A Little Benedictine Oblate Manual

By: James Nugent

Narrated by: Valerie Gilbert

There are many guides and books that give excellent wisdom for those who would seek to make an offering of their lives to God. Still there is little practical information about how about how to go about the day to day business of being a Benedictine Oblate. This audiobook is an attempt to give practical suggestions to the beginner and the "expert". However, if what you do, gets you closer to God every day, then don't change a thing. But if you need new materials, new practices, new ideas or attitudes; then just consider listening to this audiobook. It is a collection of suggestions and who knows maybe one will turn out to be just the thing that makes all the difference. These are strictly my experiences and opinions. I hope that they will be of some assistance to you as you try get closer to God.

©2013 James Nugent (P)2013 James Nugent

Good (I imagine) if you're a Benedictine Oblate

Would you listen to A Little Benedictine Oblate Manual again? Why?

No, purely because I'm not a Benedictine Oblate. I thought (as per the description) that this would give a good overview to beginners/non members. I do not feel that it does. To me, you must have some understanding of what a Benedictine Oblate is before going in, otherwise you're going to be confused throughout (like I was)

If you’ve listened to books by James Nugent before, how does this one compare?

I never have, so cannot comment.

What about Valerie Gilbert’s performance did you like?

She has great energy, her voice is clear with good diction and she managed to keep me engaged throughout, despite a confusing amount of content.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Prepare to be confused (if you're an outsider).

Any additional comments?

I can only comment as an outsider. I would imagine that this is perfectly good and useful knowledge for somebody within these circles. However, I, unfortunately, am not.

Giving your life over to God

For those of you who don't know what a Benedictine Oblate is they are Christian individuals or families who have associated themselves with a Benedictine community in order to enrich their Christian way of life. Oblates shape their lives by living the wisdom of Christ as interpreted by St. Benedict. Oblates seek God by striving to become holy in their chosen way of life. By integrating their prayer and work, they manifest Christ's presence in society. This book doesa great job in describing how to live in that capacity day by day. I really believe that one does not need to be a B.O. in order to appreciate the advice suggested here. In fact, it really feel like a nice way to live your life, no matter what style of Christianity that it is you follow. I really enjoyed this, and feel that it has helped me get closer to God in my own life.

Gilbert's narration is so soothing and calming and it rings angelic as it speaks the instructions. Her voice is so nice that you could take it to be a fragment of Metatron's own voice being used here. You will feel better just listening to her. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.


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Like a strange chat over tea

Near as I can tell, this book is for folks who are already Benedictine Oblates, or at least have a solid idea of what one is. The author provides his experiences and opinions on such a spiritual life. If you read the book blurb on Goodreads or Audible, it seems this book is meant to spark ideas or conversation for folks already living the life as Oblates or considering doing so.

Going into to this book, I didn’t know what an Oblate was and in completing this book, I was still mystified. So I went to the Wikipedia Article to educate myself. While the book blurb says this little book would be useful for beginners to experts, I will say this is better suited to the expert, or at least someone who has a solid idea of many of the practices, prayers, and religious terms used. I do not and therefore, felt lost much of the time.

As one can say about most religious text and religion-related texts, the basis is try to do good and keep your deity/deities always in mind. That definitely applies here and that is a positive message. However, the author does tend to ramble. Couple that with the subject specific references and terms, and you don’t have a book that just anyone can step into and get much out of.

Several times, the author refers to his past job where he worked and lived on a boat, before he got an office job and became an Oblate. Personally, I think this would be a fascinating tale: what he and his life were like on that boat and then how things shifted to what he does today. Why did he decide to leave the ship life? What was hard and easy about doing so? How did he become an Oblate and what he finds easy and hard about that? You never know; the author could be planning to write such a thing. Then folding this little book into that would make it make sense.

While this book on it’s own didn’t work for me, others may find it interesting and useful. It’s short enough to enjoy during a lunch break. So if you have any interest in the subject of Oblates, this could give you a small taste of what that role in society and church means.

Narration: Valerie Gilbert did a good job with this narration. She presented the book in a clear and thoughtful voice. During the few instances where the text required some emotion (wonder or even awe) she did a great job of imbuing that. Basically, it felt like I was having a cup of tea with the author as he had a nice lunch time ramble.