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	<title>Valerie Hess</title>
	<link>http://www.valeriehess.com</link>
	<description>Author, Speaker and Musician</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:00:23 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Something shared from &#8220;Abbey of the Arts&#8221;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There will be an invitation. It will not come tied in ribbons nor a message streaming down from the sky. &#160; There will be no Roman candles sizzling nor brilliant colors exploding overhead. &#160; Instead there will be a soft whisper in your ear, something in a language you once knew and are trying to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.valeriehess.com/generalnews/something-shared-from-abbey-of-the-arts</link>
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		<title>More Good Words from Fr. Richard Rohr</title>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. From Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps, p. 103.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.valeriehess.com/generalnews/more-good-words-from-fr-richard-rohr</link>
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		<title>A Test for Clergy (and all Christian Leaders)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;The effectiveness of the clergy is certified by the spiritual condition of the sheep.&#8221; Commentary on 1 Corinthians 9:2 (Orthodox Study Bible) Do you agree or disagree with this statement?]]></description>
		<link>http://www.valeriehess.com/generalnews/a-test-for-clergy-and-all-christian-leaders</link>
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		<title>Evangelism: blessing or curse?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[ I found myself wondering today if the Protestant emphasis on evangelism has ultimately led to more work&#8217;s righteousness, a group of exhausted &#8220;do-ers&#8221; who don&#8217;t know how to &#8220;be,&#8221; and a blackening of the eye of the Gospel because those being evangelized feel more like they are someone else&#8217;s project instead of a friend. What [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.valeriehess.com/generalnews/evangelism-blessing-or-curse</link>
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		<title>Rotating Quotes</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I am back into major work on the book as the revisions came back from our great editor. That means I am putting most of my writing energies into the manuscript and not here on the web site. I hope you can enjoy the rotating quotes on my page. They change every 20 seconds so [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.valeriehess.com/generalnews/rotating-quotes</link>
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		<title>RENOVATION OF THE CHURCH: Continuing the Discussion by Valerie E. Hess</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This is part of the MSFL blog conversation going on about the book Renovation of the Church: What Happens When a Seeker Church Discovers Spiritual Formation by Kent Carlson, Mike Lueken. It deals with a bigger issue behind why a seeker church may find itself at a place it doesn&#8217;t want to be at down the road. What [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.valeriehess.com/generalnews/renovation-of-the-church-continuing-the-discussion-by-valerie-e-hess</link>
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		<title>Epiphany</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Christmas in the Church is now ended and we transition into the Feast of and season of Epiphany. Here we come to realize that the story of Jesus&#8217; birth in Bethlehem is not a regional story but one for the whole world. Jesus came for everyone, from the shepherds (the poor and marginalized) to the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.valeriehess.com/generalnews/epiphany</link>
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		<title>The Eighth Day</title>
		<description><![CDATA[On this January 1st, we celebrate not only the beginning of a new calendar year but the naming of Jesus. Eight days after his birth, he was circumcised and named. What name do you bear? Not the one that people call you but deep down in your soul, what name do you answer to? Is it a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.valeriehess.com/generalnews/the-eighth-day</link>
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		<title>Swaddling clothes or grave clothes?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[On this Fifth Day of Christmas, I was reminded again that in traditional iconography, the icon of the Nativity shows Jesus in swaddling clothes that are, in reality, grave clothes. &#8220;Christ was born to die&#8221; we sing to a catchy tune. It is easy to miss the real meaning of Christmas which can get buried [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.valeriehess.com/generalnews/swaddling-clothes-or-grave-clothes</link>
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		<title>Feast of the Holy Innocents</title>
		<description><![CDATA[On this Fourth Day of Christmas, the Gospel story tells of Herod&#8217;s murder of the boys in Bethlehem who were two or under in age, in a futile attempt to kill the newborn &#8220;King of the Jews&#8221; the Magi were looking for. This story, coming so close on the heels of Christmas Eve with its [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.valeriehess.com/generalnews/feast-of-the-holy-innocents</link>
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