James Derkits

Originally published in the South Jetty Newspaper Occasionally, I'll start reading a book, and before I can even get halfway through, I've already ordered copies I can share with others. This was the case when I started recently started reading  Meditations with Meister Eckhart. One summer, about 20 years ago, I was working for the forestry industry, and I learned how to pray with God in nature. Not that it was completely new, but there, relatively alone, walking through the woods each day, and meditating next to a waterfall many afternoons, I found myself so blissfully swept up in God's presence that my life was forever changed. The copies I bought, I will share with a with an Advent retreat group.  Each year we gather in the wilderness; it is a time for us to check in, be surrounded by nature, and play lots of music on the porch. I want to share the Eckhart book because he writes about the experience of God in nature, in creativity, and in friendship

Originally published in the South Jetty Newspaper I became fascinated with the Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) observances when I was a youth minister: one of our adult mentors taught us about it, and we set up a small altar for pictures of loved ones. One parent even made sweet bread, and I think we had candy sculls to share. We placed marigolds on the altar as we told stories of those we remembered. For me it was a chance to learn about their families, including the losses they had suffered. It gave all of us an opportunity to know we were not alone in our grief, and to remember our loved ones are still with us. In our modern culture we either view anything related to death as morbid and hide from it, or we rebelliously make light death in a distanced, general way way. For example, look at all the pirate flags around town. That symbol was taken from Christian art: the scull and crossbones was often depicted at the feet of Christ on the cross, symbolizing his ultimate victo