James Derkits

 A classic Easter Hymn begins, "Welcome happy morning, age to age shall say..." The words to the hymn were written in the 6th century, and it was translated into English with modern music in the 19th century. It is traditionally sung on Easter morning and is a celebration of Christ's victory over the forces of hell, death, destruction, and the path of darkness. With the ages of Jesus followers who have sung this hymn, we are invited anew to welcome the happy morning, allow Christ to transform our worldview from that of despair and loneliness to one of resurrected hope in holy community.  Many people look out into the world and fear that the Devil has won the world over, to those folks, I would say stop main-lining bad news on your screen and pick up your Bible, preferably with a group of friends. We are certainly not the first ones to live in difficult times. For example, the writing about following Jesus that came from the adversity of the World Wars is still standard re

When I think back across my life, both to the big decisions, and the day by day choices, it is often the seemingly difficult path that is the best one. Those decisions are difficult mainly because they are uncomfortable, or make others uncomfortable in the short term. I disappointed one of my best High School friends by choosing to attend the college that really seemed like the best fit for me. He and I had talked about going to one college together and dreamed of what might happen with our band at the time. Then the day came when I had to make the decision and let go of that dream myself. I know I upset his expectations as I had that uncomfortable conversation about my decision. He and I are both relatively successful in the paths life has taken us down, and I for one am so thankful to have found my way to the college where I met my wife, Laura, and got to know the church in this part of the state.  Years later, when I left a comfortable life in Houston, again, I had to weigh what see

The first Sunday of this month, Black History month, our congregation belted out that beautiful hymn Lift Every Voice and Sing, which remembers God's faith for us even through the most difficult and oppressive years of our struggle to live as members of God's kingdom. In that hymn as in many of the psalms, we remember together, that God calls us to lift every voice, not just voices of the currently powerful and privileged, not just the voices of the downtrodden and suffering, but all of us together are called to lift our voices as if we are one human family, because we are.  In God's kingdom, we celebrate a vast diversity of saints from our history. We remember those who have stood out, often because their loving care for those in need in their generations. People such as The Rev. Absalom Jones, the first black priest in the Episcopal Church (our little corner of God's kingdom), and Dr. Artemisia Bowden, who in 1902, formed a school for African Americans in San Antonio,

     Earlier this month, I did a bit of time traveling. It happens to me everytime I return to Camp Capers to some degree. I worked there one summer during college, so I cannot help but drift back in my memories when I return to that familiar place. Besides that usual experience of drifting back in my mind to those earlier times, on this trip to camp, had a theme from that movie that was so popular 35 years ago:  Back to the Future.     The retreat weekend called Mid-Winter is a mini-camp session, and I was invited to be part of the leadership team for teenage campers from across south Texas. We did usual camp things like sing songs, eat and play together, and spend time in prayer and cabin devotions. The teaching teaching was where we really got to dig into the theme. We pondered the question: What would we, the teachers and leaders of the camp, tell our Jr. High Selves if we could travel back in time?      As we worked on the theme, we brought in the Bible, of course, as a sort of ti