Marja Bergen

author, mental health advocate, follower of Christ

Celebration time

MY PERSPECTIVE – It’s truly amazing what God can do! I wrote the following piece as an introduction to a photo booklet I created, with uplifting psalms that I found in my Bible. I started work on it after talking to someone on the crisis line – something I did quite often during the years […]

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A message for the child in you

CLOSER TO HIM – Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer: “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. “All things have been committed to me by my […]

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The heart of Jesus

COMPASSION – And today I wonder. Does all this fussing about rebuilding Living room come from my will and not God’s at all? Am I trying to push my own will, in memory of how good the experience of Living Room used to be? Is it because of the Holy Joy I always felt after […]

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Most important – spiritual support

LIVING ROOM – Some thoughts for churches who wish to learn how to give support to individuals with lived experience in their communities: Learn what you can from the https://sanctuarymentalhealth.org/  They have valuable resources, designed to equip churches with the ins and outs of mental health—what they need to know about being there for individuals […]

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Why was my story lost? (edited on Nov. 10th)

ONE SUCH AS ME? finally brought to light. In 2011, an organization was founded in Vancouver that promised to equip churches and parishes to support mental health recovery within their community. They did this by providing online courses that explained the ins and outs of mental health. Churches were delighted to have information that improved […]

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I’m not consumed

HOPE The words below from Jeremiah comfort me. I think it’s because they remind me that I’m not the only person to have had such feelings. I’m not the only person to have tasted such “bitterness and gall.” That’s the beautiful thing about the Bible. There’s something there for every one of us, no matter where we’re at. I […]

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Patient Endurance

DEPRESSED? – After spending most of the day in my night clothes, only writing a bit, as I am now while lying on the sofa, I realized something had to be wrong. This has been happening too often. Could I be depressed? I had thought depression was in the past for me, something that no longer […]

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He came for the lost

From March 2019 – I went through years of hard times. During that time, I found solace in my writing through Jesus, to whom I could not have come closer. It was in the suffering, especially in the quiet night times as I wrote, that Jesus came closest. I often pictured myself as a biblical […]

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New mercies, morning by morning

Part of what I have not yet talked about was my misdiagnosis of borderline personality disorder, the result of a psychiatrist’s not listening carefully to my story – making assumptions on the basis of only two or three of the symptoms I displayed. This caused much of the stigma I experienced at the time. And […]

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Gratitude and its effect on wellness

Happy Thanksgiving Day August 2015 Then [Jesus] said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:19 Luke 17: 11-19 tells the story about ten lepers Jesus healed. He instructed the ten to go and show themselves to the priests. On their way there, they were cleansed. Only one of them, […]

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