James Derkits

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...

In the Christian Bible, there are two prominent stories focused on language, although since the Bible we read is in English, translated from Greek and Hebrew all of which is seeking to articulate the ineffable, you could say the whole Bible is about language, but I digress.  The story of the Tower of Babel is a primeval history of why there are so many language groups in the world, and most importantly, it addresses that all-too common theme of hubris: that is when humans think too highly of themselves. There we were, building a tower up to heaven to be on the same level as God, then the confusion happened. All the people were given different languages so they couldn't continue to build up-up-up. We were humbled and scattered. Unless we read those stories regularly, we are likely to forget to be humble and hope on the hubris train again and again and again. The second story focused on language is that delightful story in the book of Acts, when instead of confusion, the gift of...

I'm looking forward to being part of a college student retreat out at Mustang Island Conference Center next month with students from around the state. It's somewhat nostalgic for me because I was active in our college campus ministry, called Canterbury, when I attended Southwest Texas in San Marcos (know today as Texas State.) I was recruited by the chaplain when I was carrying my guitar across campus, and their musician had just graduated.  I still keep up with a number of my Canterbury friends, even though we live across the state and country. In the last century, when I was in college, we would gather every week at St. Mark's, right on the edge of campus for a home cooked meal, worship, and conversation. Sometimes it was just a game night to let our brains rest during finals, sometimes it was learning about contemplative prayer, or having Eucharist with our visiting Bishop. I attended a few retreats with other Canterbury groups, and at one of those we heard from a speake...