{"id":883,"date":"2008-11-18T15:04:17","date_gmt":"2008-11-18T15:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/viamedia\/2008\/11\/variations.html"},"modified":"2008-11-18T15:04:17","modified_gmt":"2008-11-18T15:04:17","slug":"variations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/11\/variations.html","title":{"rendered":"Variations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Collecting stuff from the email box and random surfing:
\nFrom Vox Nova: An Open Letter to President-Elect Barack Obama<\/a>
\nBirthplace of Hope: <\/a><\/p>\n

\n

A mere 500 yards from the traditional site of Jesus’ birth, a Bethlehem maternity hospital is committed to seeing that no expectant mother is
\never told there is \u201cno room\u201d.
\nHoly Family Hospital is an obstetrical\/gynecological facility-the only one in the region that can handle the complicated medical conditions of women living in extreme poverty and under the shadow of political strife which stalks the birthplace of the \u201cPrince of Peace\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The women who give birth at the hospital may have different traditions but they are united in the primal need of all laboring women: safety and care as they bring their children into the World.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To see how you can help by holding a baby shower, go here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Maureen Wittman is looking for suggestions:<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

From time to time, I get letters from moms desperately searching for good fiction for their children. It’s a pretty common problem among us Catholic homeschooling moms with veracious readers on our hands. They go through books like water and we’re kept on our toes searching out acceptable literature. Books that are well written, fun to read, and raise up their hearts. Is it really so much to ask?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Go here to help out<\/a> and see what others are suggesting.
\nBlogs I didn’t know about or I’ve been recently reminded of:<\/em>
\nPatrick Madrid<\/a>
\nAnthony Sacramone and someone else – I have not quite figured it out, but it’s a great blog.<\/a>
\nImage has had a blog for a while now, but an old acquaintance and gifted writer, Jessica Mesman Griffith (married to another gifted writer David Griffith) has just joined up and here’s her first, excellent, post. <\/a><\/p>\n

This election season has been, for me, one overlong examination of conscience, and anyone who\u2019s examined their conscience for more than a few minutes can tell you it\u2019s no fun. In the end, I had to come to terms with voting for the guy who wasn\u2019t cool or beautiful. I\u2019m not merely being facetious; both those characteristics have the potential to influence my decisions on more than just the presidential race. Besides, I\u2019m used to beauty leading me to truth. Voting republican seemed downright ugly in many regards. Except.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More<\/a>
\nAmerican Papist Tom Peters is competing for the Blogging Student Scholarship – go vote for him!<\/a>
\nAlso. Mark Stricherz has loads of good post-election thoughts and questions. Go there, scroll down, and just keep reading. <\/a>
\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Collecting stuff from the email box and random surfing: From Vox Nova: An Open Letter to President-Elect Barack Obama Birthplace of Hope: A mere 500 yards from the traditional site of Jesus’ birth, a Bethlehem maternity hospital is committed to seeing that no expectant mother is ever told there is \u201cno room\u201d. 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The Catholicism comes from her side. Amy grew up in a number of places - Indiana - Washington, DC - Lubbock Texas - Arlington, Virginia - DeKalb, Illinois - Lawrence, Kansas - and Knoxville, Tennessee, where the family settled in 1973. She attended Knoxville Catholic High School, then the University of Tennessee where she majored in history. She received an MA in Church History from Vanderbilt University, where she wrote a thesis on the changing role of women in 19th century American Protestantism, and the ways Scripture was used to justify those changes. She worked as as a teacher in Catholic high schools and a Parish Director of Religious Education and started writing for the diocesan press - the Florida Catholic - in 1988. Amy has written columns for Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic News Service at times over the past twenty years. Her articles have been published in venues ranging from Our Sunday Visitor to the New York Times to Commonweal. She has written 17 books. 18, if you included the as yet tragically unpublished novel. Amy has five children, ranging in age from 26 to 4 and was married to Michael Dubruiel, who died unexpectedly in February 2009. 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