Father Charles Brandt taught that the GREAT WORK begins with a transformation of the self. By emptying the self centered nature, we realize our already present true nature. We cross a threshold to inhabit this equanimous, loving-kind nature, which reaches out to all and to the natural world, infused with great compassion. It is this type of love that Charles wished to engage in the hearts of thirsty souls who found their way to his doorstep.

Through the Great Works of his life, Father Charles offered us an example of what each of us can do when we regularly retreat to a space of tranquility and stillness in nature. He embarked on a journey of self transformation; from being a young man caught up in following his fathers footsteps into the air force, to one who began listening to a deeper spirit of guidance, to eventually becoming a being who selflessly gave much of his life to serve a higher purpose. He created a life comprised of periods of stilling the mind in the peacefulness of nature and periods of engaging the world to make it better. Father Charles, by the end of his 97 years, was not perfect. Yet many recognized a powerful calm and peaceful presence about a man who had conquered much of the fears, doubts, desires, anger and self-centeredness in living. His life was one of transformation.

He taught in his retreats and meditation gatherings a story of self discovery and of restoration. He showed us by the example of his own life that all of us can restore our souls and dissolve our self centered way. This was his Dream of the Earth. This was his GREAT WORK. One where we would together, as a single sacred community, restore the sacredness of our own spirit, the spirit of others and the sacredness of our rivers and our natural world.

And so, Father Charles begins by prompting us to ask the question, “Does the activity that you are considering make this world better, or does it detract, diminish or disparage this world?”

He described our GREAT WORK as follows;

Mark Hume Vancouver Sun Article by C Brandt:

“Our society has to change from having a disruptive influence on the Earth to one of having a benign presence. That is our GREAT WORK,” Father Brandt says. “We have to fall in love with the natural world. We only save something if we love it, and we only love it if we think it is sacred.”

 

Lenten Meditation Article by C Brandt

“GREAT WORK,  which we are all called to.  We may be a teacher, scientist, fisherman, etc. but in addition we have this GREAT WORK to carry out.  And so we undergo transformation.

We make this transformation by experiencing creation with a sense of wonder and delight, instead of a commodity for our own personal benefit.

We experience creation with a sense of wonder and delight when we fall in love with the natural world.  It is only when we love someone or something that we will save them.  And we can only love someone when we consider that someone or something sacred.”

 

Speech by C Brandt – Option for the Poor

” That is what Christianity is all about, change, metanoia. Our Society has to change from having a disruptive influence on the earth to one of having a Benign Presence. And that, as Thomas Berry tells us, IS OUR GREAT WORK, which we are all called to. We may be a teacher, scientist, fisherman, etc. but in addition we have this Great Work to carry out. And so we undergo transformation.“

Spirituality and the Earth  –
Letter to the Editor by Charles in the North Islander newspaper

 

“…we have a GREAT WORK, which we all must be involved in, and that is to make the transition from our present technological civilization, which is having a direct disruptive influence on the world, to a civilization that will have a benign influence, so that the human community in the natural world can go into the future as a single sacred community, in a mutually enhancing manner.  We make this transition primarily through experiencing creation as a source of wonder, rather than a commodity for our personal use.”

 

Report on Jubilee –  Promise and Peril Symposium by Frater Charles Brandt

 

“…our GREAT WORK as outlined by Thomas Berry, is that our technological civilization make a transition from having a disruptive influence on the earth to that of having a benign influence.  This is the Transition that we must make.  We make this transition primarily through experiencing creation as a source of wonder, rather than a commodity for personal use.

To make this transition will require a transformation of consciousness wherein human consciousness awakens to the grandeur and sacred quality of the earth; and secondly a transformation that permits us to enter into the present moment, time freedom over clock time.  Hence the utter importance of Meditation.  Meditation (Contemplation) is awakening to the presence of God in the human heart and in the world about us.  It is knowledge through love.

To foster wonder: we need to experience that we actually live on the planet earth and so enter into the earth and into the universe….finally and most importantly we need to meditate.  Such a contemplative practice becomes an absolute ethical imperative.”

Christian Meditation: A Hermit Priest’s Reflections – newspaper article by Rev Charles A E Brandt – in the Island Catholic News

“As Thomas Berry points out, it is necessary for the human community and the earth community to go into the future as a single sacred community.”
“…while we are distinct from the Ground of Love, we are not separate.  Then we realize our unity and communion with every human being, with the earth and with the universe.  Let us not undervalue our GREAT WORK, the work of meditation.”