Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 54 Writing Contests in February 2018 - No entry fees

Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 54 Writing Contests in February 2018 - No entry fees:

For such a short month, February certainly delivers when it comes to writing contests. There are no fewer than 54 free contests this month.

As always, every form and genre is represented. There are prizes for novel manuscripts, poetry, short stories, essays, works of nonfiction, children's books and more. Some of these contests have age and regional restrictions, so be sure to check submission guidelines before submitting.

Many contests are offered annually, so if you miss your ideal contest this year, you can always enter next year. For a month-by-month list of free contests see: Writing Contests

Copious Flowers | not even Solomon in all his glory • surrounded by goodness, beauty and truth

Copious Flowers | not even Solomon in all his glory • surrounded by goodness, beauty and truth:

Father Stephen Freeman recommends Walter Wink’s book Naming the Powers:

A book worth looking at viz. the powers is Walter Wink’s Naming the Powers. As successive volumes of this came out, I thought it got a bit strange, but I remember this volume as very much worth the read.

I just read Wink’s book, found it eminently worthwhile, and have shared selections here.

In addition, below are my brief responses to Wink’s book. This book recommendation from Father Stephen comes in the comments to his blog post “When Chaos Ruled the World – Part I” (January 9, 2018).

CS Lewis’ Response to Critics of The Lord of the Rings: The Dethronement of Power | Earth and Oak

CS Lewis’ Response to Critics of The Lord of the Rings: The Dethronement of Power | Earth and Oak:

When Tolkien began there was probably no nuclear fission and the contemporary incarnation of Mordor was a good deal nearer our shores. But the text itself teaches us that Sauron is eternal; the war of the Ring is only one of a thousand wars against him. Every time we shall be wise to fear his ultimate victory, after which there will be “no more songs.

An Argument for a Liberal and Rational Approach to Transgender Rights and Inclusion - Areo

An Argument for a Liberal and Rational Approach to Transgender Rights and Inclusion - Areo:

The rights and social inclusion of trans people is a heated topic right now and, as usual in our present atmosphere, the most extreme views take center stage and completely polarize the issue. On the one hand, we have extreme social conservatives and gender critical radical feminists who claim that trans identity is a delusion and that the good of society depends on opposing it at every turn. On the other, we have extreme trans activists who claim not only that trans people straightforwardly are the gender they experience themselves to be but that everyone else must be compelled to accept this, use corresponding language, and be fully inclusive of trans people in their choice of sexual partners.

The Revival of the Order of Deaconess by the Patriarchate of Alexandria – Public Orthodoxy

The Revival of the Order of Deaconess by the Patriarchate of Alexandria – Public Orthodoxy: The Center of Ecumenical, Missiological and Environmental Studies “Metropolitan Panteleimon Papageorgiou” (CEMES) has recently published the Proceedings of its international conference on “Deaconesses, the Ordination of Women and Orthodox Theology”, both its English version and the Greek version.

America’s New Religion: Fox Evangelicalism - The New York Times

America’s New Religion: Fox Evangelicalism - The New York Times:

...the nationalistic, race-baiting, fear-mongering form of politics enthusiastically practiced by Mr. Trump and Roy Moore in Alabama is central to a new strain of American evangelicalism. This emerging religious worldview — let’s call it “Fox evangelicalism” — is preached from the pulpits of conservative media outlets like Fox News. It imbues secular practices like shopping for gifts with religious significance and declares sacred something as worldly and profane as gun culture.

After Trump and Moore, some evangelicals are finding their own label too toxic to use - The Washington Post

After Trump and Moore, some evangelicals are finding their own label too toxic to use - The Washington Post:

In the 1960s and 1970s, there was evangelical momentum behind progressive causes and candidates, including Democratic President Jimmy Carter, who described himself using the evangelical term “born again.” But with the rise of the religious right in the 1980s, the ties between white evangelicalism and the Republican Party strengthened.

FATHER DANIEL BERRIGAN, SJ: WHY SHOULD AN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN BE INTERESTED IN HIM? by Jim Forest | ORTHODOXY IN DIALOGUE

FATHER DANIEL BERRIGAN, SJ: WHY SHOULD AN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN BE INTERESTED IN HIM? by Jim Forest | ORTHODOXY IN DIALOGUE:

“And just what is it,” my friend asked, “that was so Christ-revealing about Berrigan’s life?”

When he died last year, age 94, obituaries focused on the anti-war aspects of Berrigan’s life: he was eighteen months in prison for burning draft records in a protest against conscription of the young into the Vietnam War; then there was a later event in which he was one of eight people who hammered on the nose cone of a nuclear-armed missile. No one has kept count of his numerous brief stays in jail for other acts of war protest. He was handcuffed more than a hundred times.

The Advent Question | internetmonk.com

How much Christmas should be allowed during Advent?

The Advent Question | internetmonk.com:

I remember once watching a dramatic show about life in post-WWII America. A certain episode took place during the Christmas season. One character, an aristocratic woman, expressed how appalled she was that stores were decorated for Christmas the week before the holiday! And that people were buying and putting up Christmas trees before Christmas Eve! Horrors! How gauche!

The great capitalistic industrial-consumer complex has certainly changed all of that.

A one-man Dead Poets Society

The stories of dead poets, inspired mostly by their graves. 



Notes from a Common-place Book: More Travels In the U.K: Some Misfits Along the Way:

I had my regular lunch an old friend. He is a bit conventional in his view of the way things should be. The fact that things were never actually like that in reality is besides the point. I was talking about poetry in general and made the observation that so many poets seemed to be tortured souls, whether it be by alcohol, sex, or substance abuse, and this tension in their lives fueled their poetic impulses. My friend was unwilling to grant the point, and I countered that I thought very little poetry emanated from the easy chairs of suburbia. He was still having none of it, so I herded the conversation on to more well-nibbled pastures.

Orthodox Leaders Call for Boycott of Lidl, Nestle for Airbrushing Out Christian Symbols on Products

Orthodox Leaders Call for Boycott of Lidl, Nestle for Airbrushing Out Christian Symbols on Products:

Leaders of the Greek Orthodox Church are asking worshipers to boycott Lidl and Nestlé, which removed Christian symbols from their food packaging in an attempt to be "religiously neutral."

Earlier this month, shoppers noticed that the German supermarket chain Lidl had used photo editing software to remove crosses on top of an iconic Greek church on its food packaging. Swiss food giant Nestlé and the local dairy producer Mevgal have also removed religious imagery from their Greek yogurts.

In response, the Orthodox Church in Athens is urging its members through sermons and on the internet to boycott Lidl, Nestlé and Mevgal, according to The Sunday Times, whom a spokesperson of the Church told the issue will be raised at a special synodical meeting next month.

Orthodox leaders call for boycott of Lidl and Nestl� | News | The Times & The Sunday Times

Orthodox leaders call for boycott of Lidl and Nestlé | The Times & The Sunday Times:

The Greek Orthodox Church has urged worshippers to boycott Lidl and Nestlé after they airbrushed out Christian symbols from food packaging.

The German discount supermarket removed crucifix imagery from the packaging of Greek products, arguing that it wanted to remain “religiously neutral”.

'Our minds can be hijacked': the tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia | Technology | The Guardian

'Our minds can be hijacked': the tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia | Technology | The Guardian:

But notification technology also enabled a hundred unsolicited interruptions into millions of lives, accelerating the arms race for people’s attention. Santamaria, now 36, who now runs a startup after a stint as the head of mobile at Airbnb, says the technology he developed at Apple was not “inherently good or bad”. “This is a larger discussion for society,” he says. “Is it OK to shut off my phone when I leave work? Is it OK if I don’t get right back to you? Is it OK that I’m not ‘liking’ everything that goes through my Instagram screen?”

Six things to know about mass shootings in America | News | World | M&G

Six things to know about mass shootings in America | News | World | M&G:

Journalists sometimes describe mass shooting as a form of domestic terrorism. This connection may be misleading.

There is no doubt that mass shootings are “terrifying” and “terrorize” the community where they have happened. However, not all active shooters involved in mass shooting have a political message or cause.

ThrillWriting: Hug-a-Tree: Keeping Our Youngest Characters (and our real-life kiddos) Alive in the Woods with Jacquie Beveridge

ThrillWriting: Hug-a-Tree: Keeping Our Youngest Characters (and our real-life kiddos) Alive in the Woods with Jacquie Beveridge:

On Saturday, February 6, 1981, The Beveridge family was camping in San Diego County. The three Beveridge brothers set out on a foot race but only two arrived back at their camp. Nine-year-old Jimmy was missing. More than 600 people helped to search for Jimmy, including 200 marines.

Sadly, the weather was not with Jimmy, thick fog and torrential rains hampered the searchers efforts. On Thursday the 12th a man who knew the Beveridge family set out on his own to follow a hunch and found Jimmy's body.

Today on ThrillWriting, I have the great privilege of hosting Jimmy Beveridge's mother, Jacquie.

Response to Racist Violence in Charlottesville, VA | Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America

Response to Racist Violence in Charlottesville, VA | Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America:

The essence of the Christian Gospel and the spirit of the Orthodox Tradition are entirely and self-evidently incompatible with ideologies that declare the superiority of any race over another. Our God shows no partiality or favoritism (Deuteronomy 10:17, Romans 2:11). Our Lord Jesus Christ broke down the dividing wall of hostility that had separated God from humans and humans from each other (Ephesians 2:14). In Christ Jesus, the Church proclaims, there can be neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female, but all are one (Galatians 3:28). Furthermore, we call on one another to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather to expose them (Ephesians 5:11). And what is darkness if not hatred? The one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness (1 John 2:11)!

Neoliberalism: the idea that swallowed the world | News | The Guardian

Neoliberalism: the idea that swallowed the world | News | The Guardian:

Peer through the lens of neoliberalism and you see more clearly how the political thinkers most admired by Thatcher and Reagan helped shape the ideal of society as a kind of universal market (and not, for example, a polis, a civil sphere or a kind of family) and of human beings as profit-and-loss calculators (and not bearers of grace, or of inalienable rights and duties). Of course the goal was to weaken the welfare state and any commitment to full employment, and – always – to cut taxes and deregulate. But “neoliberalism” indicates something more than a standard rightwing wish list. It was a way of reordering social reality, and of rethinking our status as individuals.

Holy Synod of Bishops issues statement on recent tragic events in Charlottesville, VA - Orthodox Church in America

Holy Synod of Bishops issues statement on recent tragic events in Charlottesville, VA - Orthodox Church in America:

The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America joins people of faith and good will across the United States, Canada and Mexico in unequivocally, unreservedly and unambiguously rejecting words and actions which perpetrate, support or encourage hatred, violence, racism, white supremacy, white nationalism or neo-Nazism.

Who are the antifa?

Who are the antifa?: The vast majority of anti-fascist organizing is nonviolent. But their willingness to physically defend themselves and others from white supremacist violence and preemptively shut down fascist organizing efforts before they turn deadly distinguishes them from liberal anti-racists.

5 Lean Mean Firefox Browser Alternatives…Plus A Real Stunner! [Daily Freeware] | The Red Ferret Journal

5 Lean Mean Firefox Browser Alternatives…Plus A Real Stunner! [Daily Freeware] | The Red Ferret Journal:

Fed up with bloated, slow, buggy web browsers like Firefox? Yeah, me too. Just about every week now, I find myself wrestling with Firefox, and although I could switch to Chrome, it’s one Google step too far (I already owe too much of my life to the massive Google machine to be healthy). So for those who are in a similar predicament, I’ve brought together a sample of some alternative web browsers, plus one standout winner which I’ve switched to completely and is now my default browser.