Benedictine Oblates tend not to be computer people. We are not particularly excited by the possibilities of our technological age. We generally prefer books in print. Prayer in quiet times and places is preferable in the main to surfing the internet. A walk, in almost any weather, is preferable to sitting at a computer, which too many of us find necessary to our livelihoods. Still, the internet does exercise some allure for the average oblate, however cantankerous and averse to technology. Continue Reading
Here are some reflections by oblate Bruce B — very fitting for a time of year when we reflect on how we most want to live our lives, especially regarding how our spirituality might inform the shape of our work lives:
More reflections from Cynthia — nourishment for any new or reaffirmed resolutions we might consider as we approach a New Year in the middle of our Christmas celebrations of God’s incarnation. Here is Cynthia’s experienced wisdom about how to keep perspective and a sabbath sensibility, even when work responsibilities threaten to knock us out of sync with a sense of God’s presence:
Cynthia and I enjoyed a splendid private retreat at St. Mary Monastery last Wednesday through Saturday. We prayed the Office with the sisters, took walks in the snow, slept plenty, ate just more than enough, read entire books, and talked and talked and talked. 
Often, I fall into the trap of asking, “Why, God?” Why am I here, at this place, at this time? Why do these things happen to me and to those whom I love? Why can’t those I love make better choices? Why do bad things happen? Why do good things happen? Why am I me and not someone else more or less fortunate?
Instead of lectio this morning, I decided to visit the oblate blog and noticed a theme stretching across both Ric’s account of Abbot General Notker Wolf’s reflections at an international oblate gathering, and Sister Ruth’s reflections on inserting a verse about the whole earth belonging to God into her reading of a psalm. That theme is both challenge and promise: the challenge of living in a world of innumerable sufferings with a regular sense of the presence of God. 
Benedictine Oblate Musings 