James Derkits

At breakfast, Eli wasn't sure he wanted to go back to school. We had left on vacation about two weeks before, and it was his first day back at school (and my first day back at work.) I reminded him that he woudl see all his friends, and could tell them about our adventures. As he worked on his bowl of Cheerios, I said, imitating Eli, "What I did on summer vacation, by Eli Derkits..." Then I started thinking about all that he would be able to report from this one! He received two (2) sets of wings from his first two plane rides to get us from Corpus to Houston to Greenville. We managed to ride the "choo-choo train" around the airport to make the two-hour-layover experience that much better. Our time in the mountains with my family included a lot of creek-play time: throwing rocks, stepping into the icy water, and hunting for salamanders.  We took hikes, urging Eli  to walk as long as he could before we loaded him into the backpack. Each night we played a little...

I remember a moment at summer camp when we were singing some familiar praise song in the evening. It was late in the week, so everyone knew the song by heart. I remember a break in the music when the musician said something about music being his favorite form of prayer. I thought I knew what he meant. I was only beginning to understand. My friend Dr. George Hassard likes to say "every hymn is a sermon." I agree with him, and I hope he gets something out of the sermons too, but I digress. I watched Gillian Welch the other night on Austin City Limits; seeing her come alive with each song reminded me, once again, of the joy of making music. I'm still learning how to pray in that regard. I'm still learning to open up and create music the way God has made me to create music. Somewhere between writing a song, learning to sing it, sharing it with others, and finally hearing it come to life; the Spirit is at work. Singing a favorite hymn or praise song connects us with ...

"Do you know the most commonly broken of the Ten Commandments?" That question was posed to me soon after I was ordained a priest; like me, if you have ever turned on a TV you may have jumped to the commandments associated with things that get media attention. There are several commandments from which you could create a "reality" TV show. However, the most commonly broken of the Ten Commandments, "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy." Strictly speaking, the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week: the day of rest. It is marked in our Creation Story by God taking a whole day of rest after creating all that is. Sabbath, the last day of the week is what we call Saturday, and in a strict interpretation of that commandment, I often break Sabbath.  Sabbath Keeping can also be understood in a broader sense, as simply carving out time to let yourself rest in God's presence. That can happen on Saturday, or any day of the week. For me, tha...

Sometimes in building up the church, we actually get to pick up physical tools, roll up our sleeves,  and go to work.  I've heard the story about St. Francis hearing God's call to rebuild the church: first he went out to stack old bricks of a ruined church, only later did he come to realize that God was speaking metaphorically.  He went on to rebuild not that particular pile of rocks, but to revitalize The Church. I bet that he learned some important lessons about rebuilding The Church as he sat alone stacking rock on rock, first clearing away the overgrowth, then selecting the bricks. We learn by doing. Metaphors work because the experiences are how we learn.  The broad brushstroke lesson is that church communities have to be tended, looked after, and cared for just like church buildings. We had an amazing work day. Much more work got accomplished than I expected  in a single morning. Cleaning out the sacristy, inventorying hurricane protection pa...

I recently saw a performance by Shinyribs Russell and heard him tell the background story on his song, " Who Built the Moon ." He told a funny story about a conspiracy theorist's idea the moon was built by someone. I like the song for what it is, never mind the conspiracy. That song went through my head again and again this weekend as the Super Moon rose from the gulf horizon, sailed across the sky, and set over the bay. The moon, "hangin' in the sky, shakin' the oceans, and movin' the tide" has long shaped our human lives. It has helped us mark time, it can guide us in our fishing habits, and it inspires artists, musicians, and fireside philosophers. Life looks different in the moonlight. On Sunday morning, as I finished writing my sermon, I took a break to walk outside to see the Super Moon set, and I caught it hanging in the porch of the church. That night, Laura, Eli, and I went to the beach to watch it rise again. Someone told me it's t...

"Are you a writer?" "Yes." I answered faster than I meant to; I wanted to see if it felt like a lie or the truth. I was sitting on the beach early one morning with a few books and when the stranger asked me, I had been writing in my journal about learning how to pray. Or, about the struggle to keep up the practice of prayer. The previous Sunday in my sermon, I told a story about learning to pray one summer when I worked cruising timber in Jasper, TX. First I prayed in my off time, then while I worked. I had a  deep sense of connection at the end of that summer. After I preached, I feared that I was depending too much on the experience of that summer, over 10 years ago. Where is my story of deep connection from last year? Or from today? When I write, I pray. When I play music, I pray. Even when I ride my bike, I am praying. It's the not doing sort of prayer that I struggle with the most. The sitting still with no tools, not even a prayer book; just stillness...

The heat did not deter the youth of St. Thomas', College Station. ..it made them thirsty, and I bet a few wanted that raincloud to produce and postpone their efforts, and yet they pushed through--on a mission! Trinity by the Sea has a long history of hosting youth groups on the island for mission and for fun. St. Thomas' youth minister, Jordan Smith was down here vacationing a few months back and asked about having his group come to sleep on the parish hall floor for their mission trip. He had to look elsewhere to find showers (showers are very important on mission trips), but it has all worked out. The they arrived Sunday evening, and were ready to work on Monday morning, earlier than I expected. Holy Spirit delayed the start time of the painting project just long enough for them to notice the disarray of the garage they would be painting. Step one: clean out the garage and power-wash the outside. Everything came out, was categorized, and replaced in a new, neat order. T...