Multilayered and deeply personal, Goatwalking: a Guide to Wildland Living is a rich blend of social activism, clandestine adventure, wilderness survival, political resistance, witness for justice, and spiritual growth and grounding.
It's all based on Corbett's experiences as a founder of the Sanctuary movement for persecuted Central American refugees. He escorted many of them on foot through the desert from the border to safety within defiant congregations across the Far West. On the trail, he was accompanied by milking goats who provided needed nurture – hence the title.
The book is as a much a journal as a history or social philosophy. As I found related elsewhere, when Corbett first came among Quakers, he knew more about Buddha than Jesus. But then, waiting for his next party to arrive at a remote chapel, he meditated on the crucifix on the wall before him and realized that if anyone could possibly know the terrors his charges had suffered, it was Jesus. Later, working with a dedicated priest, he was treated as an equal in everything but the serving of the eucharist – "I'm a Jesuit, a member of the Society of Jesus," he was told, "and you're a member of the Society of Friends," or Quakers. "What's the difference?"
His insights are as relevant today as they were when first published.
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