James Derkits

Sermon preached at Trinity by the Sea, Jan 19, 2020 (the second sunday after Epiphany; John 1.29-40 ) John the Baptist was a pretty big deal; I hope you've picked up on that. We don't have his whole story from the Gospel accounts, but he shows up at the beginning of all four of the Gospels:  In Luke, he leaps in his mother's womb when she meets the pregnant Mary In Matthew, John recognizes Jesus' divinity before he is baptized In Mark, his name shows up early: in the 1st chapter in the 4th verse and he proclaims, "One who is more powerful than I is coming after me...and he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. And here in John's Gospel (after being mentioned in the opening verses) he is sending his own disciples to follow Jesus; one of them he sends turns out to be Andrew, who brings along is brother Simon Peter.  John the Baptist was a big deal, and he was in the middle of something big: working to reform his religion; to call out those religio...

I recently had the gift of praying at St. Julian's chapel at an Episcopal retreat center in North Carolina. I was there for a clergy wellness retreat; On the retreat we spent time identifying personal core values, praying in community, breaking bread with my clergy colleagues, and receiving some spiritual nourishment. The faculty guided us in developing a rule of life that touched on all the important areas of our lives. Each time I gathered with my small group in the chapel named for St. Julian's, I remembered her simple and profound teaching: "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." It is a statement of trust in God, and a reminder that though we may be facing a difficult time, God is still present and working through human hearts to make all things well. At one point, I confessed to my group that although I like to put on the persona of someone unafraid, and generally at peace; though I might appear to feel cool about t...

Each year around this time, some people begin to focus on their new year resolutions. The first month of the year, January, is named after the two-faced, forward-and-backward looking Greek god named Janus. I wonder if we might do better to take a cue from him, and instead of listing things we resolve to do, we consider whether we are viewing the world, to use a technological metaphor, in high resolution or low resolution. I understand anything above 300 dpi (dots per inch) to be high resolution, producing more clarity, and anything below to be considered low resolution, which is sometimes just what we need, but is not as clear as the higher resolution. In this scenario, the dots might be different perspectives on the world. The more voices we hear from, and the more perspectives we consider, the clearer our view of the world (made up of 7.5 billion people and counting.) Social media sometimes gives the false sense that we are exposed to many people, or that it builds relationship...

I remember I the year I received a mountain bike for Christmas. I was probably in 8th grade, yearning for more autonomy and mobility, and along came a mountain bike with gears and everything. It was a balmy South East Texas Christmas, so I rode to a friend's house in shorts and a t-shirt, and then all around their neighborhood until it was time to go home for Christmas dinner. I felt free on that bike. Some of our gift-giving practices around Christmas relate back to St. Nicholas, who is remembered for giving gold to a family so their daughters could be married. The story I remember is that at the time it was needed, St. Nicholas would walk up and toss the gold right in through the window. They were liberated by his gracious act. His feast day is December 6th, but we tend to remember a plump, magical version of him on the Feast Day of Christ's Incarnation, or Christmas. I wonder, sometimes, how our giving practices compare to St. Nicholas's. Are they given to empower th...

*Update: Due to COVID-19, the sabbatical has been postponed until May 2021. While some of my plans have changed, I am still looking forward to four P's: Pray, Perform, Produce, and Play. I have a couple of creative projects planned, some travel, and Holy Rest. Thank you to our vestry for allowing me to reschedule, and to the Lilly Endowment for extending the grant timeline for everyone who's sabbatical has been postponed.  Sabbatical Information from the Sabbatical Committee Rector's Sabbatical Beginning in March, or actually just after Ash Wednesday (Feb 27) our Rector James Derkits will be taking a sabbatical, which is intentional time away from Parish Ministry for study, rejuvenation, and reflection. He will be away all of March, April, May, and June. His first Sunday back will be July 5. During that time, he will have little contact with the parish except for pastoral emergencies. Rob Alcorn has stepped up to lead the Sabbatical Committee ( Del Welborn was...

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...