Marja Bergen

author, mental health advocate, follower of Christ

Category: Being included

Accepted and valued

  On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:12,13   I guess I’ve been angry far too long about how people […]

Read More...

Despised and rejected

  He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Isaiah 53:3   Good Friday is a time when we remember how Christ suffered and died for us. I hope this […]

Read More...

Christian support for mental wellness

ALL OF US TOGETHER Much has been done to increase awareness about mental health in the church. But there’s room for better understanding. A lot more needs to happen than simple acceptance alone. People with mental health issues are no different in wanting to be regarded as having equal worth with others. It’s common for […]

Read More...

With more than acceptance alone

  Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,  then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition […]

Read More...

Today’s outcasts

We who live with mental health issues are also looked down on, shunned, disrespected, excluded, not considered to have credibility. Is this situation so different from the treatment given to those who Gandhi and Mandela fought for? Isn’t it time we got angry about the unjust attitudes towards people with mental illness? Who can help […]

Read More...

Despised

  He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Isaiah 53:3   Why does it hurt so much to be ill thought of because your mind doesn’t work the same […]

Read More...

Part of the crowd

  He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8   Who hasn’t at times been drawn onto the bandwagon to join with others in what is popular? Popular things to […]

Read More...

© 2024 Marja Bergen

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑