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  Meditations From The Wilderness. Charles A.E. Brandt. Harper Collins. $14.00 Cdn or $12.00 U.S.
When I visited him at his hermitage, on Vancouver Island, he took me there, so we could see the water glinting below, hear the distant rush of of the river, and listen to the wind in the trees. It was, he thought, a nice place to stand and talk about fly fishing, life and death. In reading his collection of thought provoking quotations, Meditations From The Wilderness, I kept thinking about that clearing in the woods - wondering if it wasn’t there, while he contemplated the universe, that he thought of the need for a book like this. Father Brandt studied ornithology at Cornell University and wildlife conservation at the University of Missouri, before living for eight years as a Trappist monk of the Cistercian order. In 1966, he was ordained a Roman Catholic hermit-priest - becoming the first priest to be ordained as a hermit in two centuries. At his hermitage he spends much of his time in meditation and prayer - but he also finds time to go fishing in the Oyster for cutthroat and steelhead, and he makes films about birds. He binds and restores ancient texts to keep a little money coming in, and he reads extensively. Meditations From The Wilderness is billed on the dust jacket as a collection “of the best writings on nature, the environment and our spiritual connection to the earth.” But it’s far more than that. Inspiring and reflective writing springs from almost every page. You’ll find the thoughts of John Muir, Henry David Thoreau and Aldo Leopold here, but also the musings of Black Elk, Li Po and Solomon. “The wilderness experience offers great riches. Those who write about the natural world often bring us a deep wisdom and, above all, a sense of hope,” writes Father Brandt in his introduction. “Historically we have gone to the wilderness for different reasons. The early rishis went into the forest to offer sacrifice and to live in harmony with the universe. The early Christian hermits in the third and fourth centuries went into the desert of the Scete to practice perfect charity and constant prayer. Henry David Thoreau went to Walden Pond to find out what life was all about. . . “ Father Brandt turns to the wilderness for meditation - and to “wilderness scriptures” for inspiration. The book is not religious in its content, it’s not aimed at Christians, or Jews or Muslims. It’s aimed at all of those who believe in the spirituality of nature. Anyone who fly fishes will find something inspiring in Meditations From The Wilderness, on almost every page. Opening the book at random, this quote tumbles out: "Since water still flows, though we cut it with swords Editors Note: A River Never Sleeps did a profile on Father Charles Brandt in our October 2000 issue it can be read by following the link here.
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Just a few steps from the small house where Father Charles Brandt lives there is a clearing where he likes to sit, looking down through the old growth forest to the Oyster River.
