James Derkits

 My Favorite News Channel I have visited a lot of hospital rooms, sometimes before or after a surgery, or to pray with someone drawing near to death. It is a sacred privilege, and while often uncomfortable to deal with the realities surrounding those visits, it always feels holy, and sometimes I bear witness to the holiness with tears on my way out.  When I was first learning to go on those visits, sometimes I'd be surprised to walk into a hospital room with Extreme News!!!  blaring in the corner. Here in a place of healing, where energy should be put into recovery, people succumbed to their addiction to constant information, adrenaline inducing headlines, and the onslaught of commercials that is part of that whole circus. As a people pleaser, early on, I was reluctant to dare ask them to turn off what they obviously wanted to be playing. But that didn't last too long after enduring a blaring viagra commercial during through the Lord's Prayer. Now, I go straight for the r...

I love the scene in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation when Uncle Eddie is talking absently, wandering around, and Clark is following him around making snide remarks that Eddie misses completely. At one point Uncle Eddie approaches the Griswold's Christmas carousel and swipes at the delicate fan blades sending the wooden pieces flying. Clark rushes in to pick up the pieces, and Eddie lumbers on, ready for another glass of egg nog.  We received one of those Christmas carousels several years ago, and we keep it stored away with our stockings and ceramic Advent wreath. I think of those items this time of year especially when the weather turns cold. Soon we will take the Advent wreath out of the attic, as well as the church's Advent wreath from the closet. We will begin to build the nativity scene across the season of Advent, and finally place Jesus in the manger on Christmas eve.  So far, no one has taken swipe at our Christmas carousel, and no one has mistaken our nativity...

I have had the honor of officiating several funerals this month of people I knew fairly well. October also marks the one year anniversary of my own dad's death. It is a month, following the agricultural harvest, when many cultures remember those beloved who have died and rest in God's eternal presence. We conclude the month with All Hallows Eve, then All Saints and All Souls days. Some recognize funerals and the remembrance of ancestors as the earliest expression of religious practice. It certainly draws me to ponder my own existence, what I have to offer the world, and what I will leave behind.  At the root of trusting in God is an awareness of our mortality. God is immortal, and we are not. That which we call "soul" we give over to God, and in that way practice a sort of death-before-dying. It is not we who will carry our own soul across death's gate, it is God. Entrusting our essence to another we must die to that illusion of control we think we have. That tran...

Originally Published in the South Jetty Newspaper Sometimes when I wonder about the surf conditions right here in Port Aransas, I sit on my couch and pull up an app on my phone that offers me predictions. It may or may not motivate me to load up my board and paddle out. It may or may not be accurate. Sometimes I have planned a day around the prediction only to be disappointed, or hear the classic, "shoulda been here yesterday," from a friend who ignored the app. Other days I drop off my son at school and drive home by the beach looking for the best place to paddle out. I may judge the waves unworthy of my efforts, or too mushy to delay the start of my day. On the other hand, some of my best days that left me with a smile, have been the times I just threw my board in my truck, and drove down to paddle out. I may not even see anything catchable from the beach, yet, usually there are at least a couple of ankle biters out there. Some days when I paddle in from mediocre surf I...

I was in college when a priest I knew started experimenting with this new technology called electronic mail in his ministry. He worked at Christ Church Cathedral, Houston, and he started sending out what he called the "Digital Cathedral" email with a sermon and church announcements. It was cutting edge stuff.  I knew Fr. Paul from youth retreats I attended and he was a hip, creative priest. It was not surprising that he adopted email as a ministry resource so early. Through that email I felt connected to him and other friends I knew through our Episcopal youth community, even though I lived away from them. It was in one of those emails that I learned one of my first Greek words: Koinonia.  Koinonia was what Fr. Paul called his High School youth group. They would get together and watch 90210 together (that was a popular television show, from the days when one had to watch such things at scheduled times.) After they watched the show, they would talk about the issues the charact...

The following is an edited sermon preached at the closing Eucharist at Mustang Island Family Camp and then at Trinity by the Sea, Sunday, August 14. The Reading was Luke 12: 49-56 Build one another up! Bishop David Reed asked to reflect on how we build each other up---he’s obviously a camp kid turned counselor turned staff turned director. So, maybe not everyone who starts as a camper becomes a priest or a bishop, but it does raise up loving leaders for our church and for the world. Camp makes leaders who think about building one another up because that is what camp does in so many ways. Laura, Eli, and I spent the weekend at Mustang Island Family camp for our eighth year, and the new construction is beautiful, and will work well for retreat groups. The chapel has just been completed except for the furniture…but we stood around a surf board altar to celebrate Eucharist in that beautiful space. There are more camps than Mustang Island, Camp Capers, Duncan Park, and Camp Allen. I’ve part...

My heart is still struggling over the horrific shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, TX. It is not far from where I live and it is in the diocese my church is a part of...last night I was playing music with close friends, preparing for a show we are playing on June 21 to support one of our parishioners and to bring our community together. It's something I've been trying to do as much as possible since COVID: bring people together. Work on relationships, love our neighbors, reconcile on the personal level.  Then as we were winding down the rehearsal, I got a text from my wife about a shooting at an Episcopal church potluck supper. The church is outside Birmingham, Alabama. Two parishioners were killed, one is in the hospital as I write.  Last night and this morning, I looked up  St. Stephen's , and was able to read and watch some of the messages from their rector, The Rev. John Burruss, and a message from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry (who visited their church not l...

Published in the South Jetty a week before the election.  What brought you to Port Aransas, and what has kept you here? The original attraction for me was the beauty of nature all around us. The beach and bay; the dunes and night sky. Once we moved here, not all that long ago in 2012, I came to know this amazing community. People helped one another out, residents and visitors supported our youth and still do. I suppose the gift of nature alone would have nourished my soul, but my family and I really stayed because of this amazing community. We feel so fortunate to get to live here, and I understand why people are attracted to spending time here. We were here for five years before Hurricane Harvey and I am grateful for those years of getting to know my church and community so that when we were in the recovery trenches, we could build up from those relationships.   I value community and relationships because I have found that strong relationships make it possible to not onl...

Originally Published in the South Jetty Newspaper I hope you are able to read this in time to find yourself a Good Friday service. Even better, visit a church that offers a Maundy Thursday service, too. These days, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday come before we arrive at Easter or Resurrection Sunday. I am looking forward to gathering again at Roberts Point Park for our Community Easter Sunrise Celebration, but Resurrection doesn't come without Good Friday.  I love the old tradition that I learned of reading St. Gregory of Nyssa: the Devil believed he was in control and had great plans for Good Friday. He had waited until the opportune time, and finally stirred up a mob to convince the religious leaders and political leaders that it was best to assassinate this man who some believed to be the Messiah. Jesus, who was proclaiming the presence of a heavenly kingdom that would reign in the hearts of people, not from a palace.  "Love one another," was the command to those who ...

     This year my church and many Christians around the world are reading through the Gospel of St. Luke. The Gospel of St. Mark can be easily identified by the repeated use of the word, "immediately." You get a sense of the urgency of the Good News from events happening right on the heels of other events in Mark's Gospel. In St. Luke's Gospel, we hear again and again of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The other obvious feature of the Gospel according to Luke is the presence of prayer. Jesus repeatedly goes off alone to pray, especially before big events. The experience of Jesus's transfiguration takes place while he is praying up on the mountain, with just a few disciples.       Prayer, simply defined, is time spent intentionally with God. We often think of praying with words, which is an important kind of prayer. We might remember the prayer Jesus taught us: "Our Father, who art in heaven..." Early on in life, someone taught me that singing is prayi...

          The Derkits family  donated a lighted boat compass, barometer, and aluminum net float to the Port Aransas Maritime Museum in memory of John James Derkits, Jr, who grew up sailing with his dad on the Alabama Gulf Coast. My mom moved back to the coast at the beginning of 2022. She grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida; now she resides in Rockport, Texas. When she moved, I collected these artifacts, and wanted to share them.        There are so many details I wish I could verify and ask about, but that time has passed. My dad, John James Derkits, Jr. has died so the stories of he and Grandad that my mom, sisters, and I remember are the stories. He grew up on Mobile Bay. His dad was a sailor, and taught his boy, called JJ, to sail. JJ, who is known by his grandchildren as Papa, often sailed further than he was supposed to, I heard about those memorable occasions he got in trouble, unable to resist sailing just a little f...

When we tell the story of Jesus' nativity on Christmas Eve, there will surely be those in the pews pondering the miracle of Jesus' birth to Mother Mary and his peculiar presence in a manger among the animals. We ponder this one big miracle, and the earth shaking events around the birth of Jesus along with Mary who burst out in song when she learned she would be the one to birth the Creator into the Creation.  I hope you won't stop with that one big miracle. Instead, I hope the birth of Jesus Christ will light the fuse of your awareness of miracles happening in your life all the time. Give that rational, reasoning, over-function, ego-oriented part of you a rest, and relish in the mystery of God's real presence right there in your heart, in your family, and in the good creation surrounding you.  I recently visited my sister's property in Refugio, where I got to sit in a deer blind for several sunrises and several sunsets. My mind wandered back to the monastic men and ...

 Participation is an important word throughout Episcopal/Anglican Theology, and no doubt in other traditions as well. While I enjoy an inspiring sermon or perhaps good speaker in other contexts, we believe and teach that the sermon is just a small piece of it.  Every moment beginning to end is our worship, and we participate in something much greater than ourselves, or our particular gathering. When we worship, we participate in an eternal flow of worship. We remember that specifically when we sing "with angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven," just before we share communion. We also join beyond geography with Christians around the world who gather to pray and praise.      It was extremely challenging to be apart from one another because what we do in worship together is much more than words spoken and heard. As convenient as it may have been to sit at home in pajamas while watching church online, there's much more happening when we gather for worship...

    I should start with a confession, or perhaps a statement of fact: I preach to myself. I wouldn't presume to speak for all preachers, but I know that what is on my mind either by way of interest or struggle comes through my preaching. I tell people that after they say a particular sermon spoke to a struggle they are experiencing. We are human beings, and we all share similar struggles. I'm grateful for our assigned lectionary readings that become variably a mirror, counterpoint, or guide.      That's a simple preface to address the vicious philosophy of scarcity at work around us these days. It shows up sometimes in humorous, or at least ridiculous ways (did anyone actually run out of toilet paper last year?), and sometimes in ways that are so contrary to the gospel it's frightening. The fear of not having enough stuff gets at all of us. We may not even recognize it because it is so woven into our culture. There are parts of the world where Amazon doesn't del...