James Derkits

We have a phrase in our household that we use in a variety of contexts: "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." It invites a pause for ethical and moral consideration. It originated in conversations about medical care in critical situations, to considering whether prolonging suffering was really "life-supporting" from a quality of life perspective. The phrase is helpful in many areas of life, though.  It's been coming to mind often as I hear reports celebrating the advancements of Artificial Intelligence. I know that ship has already sailed, and I'm certain I'll come off here as a Luddite or hypocrite; likely I'm both. That being the case, I don't think humanity should give up our intelligence just yet, again: just because we can doesn't mean we should.  In all of God's good Creation, there are of course many other creatures that have emotion, think, and communicate, but I believe humanity, at least for this season, has taken...

I recently finished a book called Liturgies of the Wild by Martin Shaw. The author is an Orthodox Christian, who leads wilderness trips for people of all ages. He is an excellent storyteller and uses fairy tales to help people orient to life, grow, and heal. He brings that experience to the book as he explores aspects of modern life from an ancient lens. He doesn't use the white washed "all flowers and light" fairy tales; he uses the originals that don't always have happy endings, and always have scary challenges, usually involving monsters.  I grew up going to a camp in the piney woods of East Texas. One of the priests who led a camp session was a masterful storyteller. Many people told the camp legend of "Mad Pierre", but he told it best. I won't go into the details, but it left us frightened and looking into the darkness with a new respect. Having hiked into the dark woods to hear the tale, we then hiked all back to our campsite intact, even though o...