James Derkits

In his first letter to the church in Corinth, St. Paul offers a metaphor to teach about the new community of followers of the Way of Jesus. He wrote, in chapter twelve, " For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit." It was a radical idea: that where you came from, and your social status was no longer considered relevant when it came to your relationship with God and your faith community. The early church even started calling each other brother and sister to emphasize the new understanding of their relationship with one another in God, whom they called, "Abba" (Aramaic for Daddy) as they were reborn from the water of their baptism.  As I come to know the people of my church and community over the years, it becomes clear that there are probably as ma...

" What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." So begins the St. John's Gospel. He reaches way back to the genesis of creation to make sure his readers understand: that which created is born into the creation in Jesus Christ. The Word of God, who spoke light into existence is now  shining with his own presence, as when he was transfigured before his closest disciples, and they saw him as blindingly bright as lightening in their presence.  My wife, Laura, and I lived in another town years ago when a hurricane rolled through and left us without power for a couple of weeks. It was dark at night. We had plenty of camping experience and we were young, so we set up a camp-kitchen in the back yard, and we managed just fine. We really noticed when the sunset in those days. The neighborhood was dark, and the house was very dark at night. Once we got a generator, we turne...

Originally Published in the South Jetty Newspaper  My parents named me after my dad, who was named after my grandad. My son, Eli carries part of that hand-me-down name, as well. My name is a simplified immigrant name that was longer and even held some geography of the old country.  Most of the time I’m called Dad or James, Fr. James or Padre. They all mean something a little different the context helps decide what I am called.  Jesus of Nazareth was and is called by many different names. Blind Bart knew he was the Son of David and Rabbi. Mary Magdeline called him Rabbouni outside the empty tomb, only after he spoke her name. This season when we celebrate Christmas, the winter festival of Christ’s light in the world, we might ponder that Jesus was called Emmanuel. It means God with us, and it is a deep revelation of the nature of God. God is not distant, but came to be with us, among us. God, born in a child to experience the limits of our humanity, and to redeem all human...

Originally published in the South Jetty Newspaper, Port Aransas  John is out there in the wilderness calling me, calling you. I love teaching our day school children about John the Baptist in chapel. He is such a complex character. John is described as wearing camel's hair, a leather belt around his waist, and eating (I hope you aren't eating when you read this) big bugs with wild honey. I like the wild honey part. I also wonder if he harvested the honey and bugs with his own hands out there. He had plenty of comfortable places to be, this preacher's kid. He probably could have, and maybe he was for a time, an apprentice to his father, Zechariah a priest. He would certainly have learned about the law and prophets from his mother Elizabeth, a descendent of Aaron. The prophets spoke out for God, they stood out against the spirit of the times to call people back to God, away from their greed and neglect of the needy. The prophets of the Hebrew Covenant stood out on the edge of...

I am grateful to have had a therapist to be my guide through some difficult times of life, as well as through discernment in early adulthood. One piece of wisdom my therapist shared with me early on was the blessing and curse of longevity. As we age more and more of our loved ones will die along the way. That realist perspective echos the refrain of Ecclesiastes, "all is vanity." It doesn't make losing a loved one easier, but it does provide some orientation for the journey. In addition, it has helped me to value this life as a precious gift.  I also value memories of those who have crossed over to join the "great cloud of witnesses", those loved ones I call saints who are gathered close to God. Intentionally remembering and honoring the saints, both those with a capital "S" whom we share with the wider church community, or those more personal lower case "s" saints has become more important to me longer I live, and the more loved ones I bury....

  Sunday, September 29: Be Salty for Jesus! Reflection for church while my back heals.  Welcome everyone to another church on the beach. Fr. James is dealing with his back injury, and sent this reflection to read, so here it goes.  I spent Thursday morning planning for the next two weeks, anticipating that I might need a medical procedure. As I did so, I marveled at how many amazing leaders we have within our church. I was focusing on the worship service, and leading worship on Sundays is a only portion of what we do as a church community, but it is an important part of what we do. It is where we gather together to reorient to God, to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and to listen for inspiration from Jesus. How fitting that we gather on the beach today to hear Jesus remind us to be salty. Do we have it easier, here beside the sea? We can hardly help but be salty around here. I want to start with that, which is where Jesus lands his somewhat meandering messa...