". . .he has things to teach us about the need to be alone, the need to reflect, and the need to connect with the earth as our ancestors did.
"I have never forgotten his sense of humour, his optimism, and the ceaseless challenge of his life's work ~ to be alone.  To walk and meditate, to pray for a sweeter fate for mother earth.  Above all, to pay attention, to focus.  'We're so cluttered up, so distracted,'  he told me on the phone (yes, he has one, plus a television and a Volkswagen van) before the on-air interview.  'You have to set aside time,' he said, 'a period of quiet and calm.'  He admitted to being terrifically lonely at times, but he also cherished what he called 'my own little monastery' and found great joy in it.
'At one point, all men were contemplative.  I think it is so important to realize that we are part of the Earth and the Earth is part of us.'"

Grey County ON

~ Lawrence Scanlan, Harvest of a Quiet Eye ~ the cabin as sanctuary ~ Viking Canada, 2004.

Note:  Although this passage refers to the quiet life of a priest, Father Charles Brandt, Lawrence Scanlan's Harvest of a Quiet Eye looks at how civilization has distanced us from nature and the earth.  (Father Brandt's childhood hero was Henry David Thoreau.)

July, 2012

Tomorrow: More about Harvest of a Quiet Eye, and time alone and in nature.