The Way of the Hermit

 A hermit, also known as an eremite (addjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. 

1 Come and find the quiet centre

in the crowded life we lead,

find the room for hope to enter,

find the frame where we are freed:

clear the chaos and the clutter,

clear our eyes, that we can see 

all the things that really matter,

be at peace, and simply be.

                                 Voices United 374

When we spend time in Newfoundland our home base is a old two-storey house on the rather remote Change Islands  adjacent to Fogo Island. The wonderful, creaky house was once owned by a man who lived there by himself his entire adult life, never having married. He wasn't a hermit, with family living nearby and a circle of friends, but he was content to keep his own company and went about fishing, and cutting wood, both solitary activities. We met George 40-odd years ago and the house has changed ownership three times since his death but we do remember him and his huge circular woodpile which was a work of engineering and art.

While we there in August I read a book I took along with the intriguing title The Way of the Hermit: My Incredible 40 Years Living in the Wilderness, the story of Ken Smith with Will Millard of the BBC as his amanuensis. Smith is in his mid-seventies and has spent decades living in a self-built log cabin in a forest in Scotland, existing cheerfully without electricity or plumbing or road access. As a young man he decided he didn't want to be constricted by earning a wage in a conventional way. He left Britain to meander around western and northern Canada and the United States, living hand-to-mouth and loving the spartan life. Eventually he returned to England but made his way to Scotland where he received permission to live in the wildest part of a large estate where he did seasonal outdoor work. 

His story is not religious, although Ken claims to be a Christian in a "do unto others as you would have them do to you" way. In the end I would agree that he has lived the life of a hermit in the sense that he chose radical simplicity, gratitude, and an almost mystical appreciation of the natural world. 

I have been intrigued by the way of hermits through the years, reading about the Celtic Christian solitaries of Ireland including St. Kevin, who hung out with birds and otters. 

I have also spent time talking with two hermits, something I imagine few people have done.

Father Charles Brandt, a Roman Catholic priest, was uniquely ordained a hermit, and lived along the Oyster River on Vancouver Island. He was something of a spiritual hero to me having seen an episode of the old CBC TV program Man Alive featuring Father Charles. I arranged that while on United Church business in Victoria I would rent a car and drive north to visit him. 

We talked about his vocation which was by definition largely solitary. In his secluded hermitage he had a workshop where he meticulously restored antiquarian books for libraries across North America. He also had a small chapel where he said the daily Mass. His public life was an environmentalist, working to restore the Oyster River as salmon habitat and in leading meditation workshops walking through the woods. Both of these activities were well before their time. https://www.focusonvictoria.ca/earthrise/57/

                                                Father Charles Brandt in his Oyster River Hermitage

While living in Halifax I spent time on retreat at a Cistercian Monastery in New Brunswick. One winter I was given permission to ski out to the woodland cabin of the one brother who was a hermit. He was a thoughtful, friendly man who talked my ear off. 

Of course the bible shares lots of stories of those who spent solitary time to be attuned to God, including Moses and Elijah, the apostle Paul and Jesus. 

I have my curmudeonly moments when the life of a hermit is vaguely appealing, but it is not my vocation. I'm glad it still is for some as a spiritual antidote to the frenetic, over-connected world we live in. We could all benefit from oases of quiet and reflection. 

                                                                                   St. Kevin