Richard Barnett's article "The Environmental Psalm" took First Place in the Prose category of the 2007 Eternal Ink Prose and Poetry Contest sponsored by the online journal Eternal Ink. The contest theme was "The Joy of Nature."
Richard to Appear in TransformaSA
TransformSA is a new online journal that serves the Christian community of the Greater San Antonio area. Its Daily Devotional page for December includes a compilation of devotionals written by members of the Christian Writers Group of Greater San Antonio. Richard Barnett is a CWGGSA member, and his contribution "Dashing Through the Snow" appeared on December 5.
Richard's New Christmas Poem
Joseph's Blessing
by
Richard S. Barnett
. . .Joseph her husband, being a just man . . .
--Matthew 1:19
Eyes so bright and shining, fixed upon that star;
May they be discerning, focus near and far.
May your eyes see wonders ev'rywhere you go,
How our Lord has blessed His children here below.
Refrain: Fixed upon your purpose, may you grow in grace;
Doing all that's righteous when you take my place.
Learn to pick out timbers; beams both sound and straight;
Oak that's right for rafters, houses small and great.
May you see in others skills to learn from them;
Overlook their failings; work and pray with them.
Fixed upon your purpose, may you grow in grace;
Doing all that's righteous when you take my place.
Hands so small and slender for a builderÕs hands;
May they grow adept at building homes that stand,
Foundations on our Rock, safe in storm and strife,
Full of love and sharing, holy peace and life.
Fixed upon your purpose, may you grow in grace;
Doing all that's righteous when you take my place.
* * *
To the tune of "Like a River Glorious" by Frances Ridley Havergal, 1876.
(score available, gratis, upon request.)
Richard Barnett Reads at Wimberley's Trail of Lights
6:00 pm, November 30, 2007, Wimberley, Texas
Community displays of Christmas lights are a tradition throughout the Hill Country of central Texas, and Wimberley does its part with flair.
In addition to competitive displays on the Wimberley Square and along major routes, Wimberley hosts a yearly Trail of Lights on the grounds of its outdoor amphitheatre, the Emily Ann Theatre, from Thanksgiving to January 1. Wimberley's artistic, civic, church, social, and professional groups vie to decorate parts of the wooded hillside and hilltop where the amphitheatre sits.
Wimberley's burgeoning writers colony will decorate a living tree with bookmarks and other tokens of their trade. On the evening of November 30, the writers will present a reading of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol and samples of their own Christmas stories and poems.
You will be as pleased as all get out to know that Richard Barnett will help out. If you know about Richard's Christmas stories and poems, you know he's at home in that kind of event. If you can attend, you will also have an opportunity to hear Christmas carols around the campfire while you enjoy the blaze and a cup of hot chocolate.
The opening of the Trail of Lights marks the beginning of many other activities during the Advent season at Wimberley. The Wimberley Players will present "Bell, Book and Candle," and we look forward to concerts by the Wimberley Community Chorus and the Starlight Symphony, as well as seasonal productions by churches and schools.