Advent Musings

This is the darkest week of the year. I find it some what depressing. I do not really want to get out of bed in the morning. It’s cold and dark. I hear about family members who lose a loved one this time of year, a pregnancy that may not last, strife between friends and family, the forced prostitution of young girls. Then I remember the end of the week. I am so thankful for Christmas. Not just the gifts though it is fun to receive and to give. Not just the food, though it is yummy and filling. Not just the family though it is good to work on and enjoy those relationships but, more so because our God sent His Son. The Great Light has come! There is hope! We no longer have to be in darkness. Whether that means our own sin and short comings or how others hurt us or the injustices in the world. I love Christmas lights as a reminder of the Light that has come. Christ who was perfectly human and divine entered our world. Not only has He entered, but He continues to be at work.

Can you see the flickering light breaking through the darkness? Sometimes it is small and hard to see, but it is there. It is in organizations who fight for those who are oppressed like IJM, it is in shelters who house women and children who must flee the violence of their homes, it is in a group of students who care what happens to the employees of their school, it is in those who visit nursing homes and soup kitchens all year long.

Our pastor recently talked about miracles and how they are not really these extra-ordinary events outside the natural order. Miracles are really a glimpse of the restoration of things to come. So, when Jesus restores sight to the blind man it is a glimpse of how things should really be. Jesus’ miracles are not suspensions of the current order, but restorations of the created order. God is working out His kingdom here and now. Glimpses of the Light are there. I love this passage in Isaiah not just for the often quoted part, but for all of it and the peek it gives us of how things will be-justice, peace, rejoicing. “I have seen a great light. . .”

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased the joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for the fire. For to us a child is born to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaish 9:2-7

Maine trip

We got to visit Jeff's grandparents, aunt, mom, and two sisters in Maine for a long weekend. It was perfect weather. We had fun just spending time together, cooking meals, walking, and enjoying the views. We took a ton of pictures if you feel strong enough to look at them all I will email them to you, just let me know:) Here are just a sample. Jeff's grandparent's cottage was right on the ocean.

A wedding

Jeff, Ana, and I just got back from a family wedding. It really was a family event. My grandparents got married. It's such a great story I wanted to share it. My biological grandparents got divorced over 30 years ago.
My grandmother remarried -- he's the man I knew as my grandfather. He passed away a couple of years ago. My biological grandfather moved in with my parents and got re-acquainted with my grandmother. They started dating and now are married. . .again. It is a beautiful story of redemption. We are all broken people, but this a wonderful example to me of how we can be restored in relationships. Jeff and my aunt sang the song "Your Grace Still Amazes Me" by Phillips, Craig and Dean. It was highly appropriate as these two people who left relationship with one another in a hurtful way have grown in Christ who then restored their relationship with one another. The wedding was officiated by my cousin, my uncles were ushers, my mom played piano, my sister flute, my husband and aunt sang, and my uncle did the photography. All the "kids" of my grandparents played a part and where thrilled with this coming together. I found myself getting misty eyes during the ceremony. After the reception we all went and hung out and my grandparents' house. Someone commented that not to many people bring their grandchildren and great-grandchildren on their honeymoon:)

Summer Time

I feel as though I am an ostrich pulling my head out of the sand, I have lost contact with folks this summer. Some days I just wonder what happened. The past few weeks in particular. Do not get me wrong the weeks have been lots of fun. We had guests of Fred stay with us for a night. Then our friends the Whites came and stayed with us a few days later. Above is a picture of Jessika being attacked in a loving embrace by Mick and Liam.
Then the same day they left my family came to visit for the 4th of July. Here is Ana with her cousins, Emma and Zoey as well as Aunt Chris. After the fam left we headed to Chicago to visit with Jeff's sister and a recent grad from Kenyon. As soon as we returned it became busy with summer conferences. It was wonderful to spend time with all these folks. I am blessed to have all these people in my life.

Ana is learning some new things. She enjoys pulling hair, sitting up, rolling from a sitting position, peek-a-boo, patty cake, and vocalizing, especially with the "ddd" sound.

Beantown

The last week of May beginning of June we got to visit with Jeff's family in Boston. It was great to be back in the city since we left exactly one year ago! Ana got to go to the ocean for the first time. Even though the water was freezing she enjoyed kicking her feet in the water. Check out her Red Sox outfit in that photo:) There is also a picture of Jeff, Ana, and I in Copley square with to tortoise and the hare. We had a great time visiting with folks, riding the "T", and being in the city. This was also Ana's first plane ride. She slept through most of it. Now we head back to the village for a summer working with the conferences. As a note no one who lives in Boston calls it "Beantown".

PA visit

Ana and I got to visit with my family for a week while Jeff took a class. It was lots of fun! Ana can now roll across a room. She also got her first tooth! At the top you can see Ana and cousin Zoey while we were at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh. Then there is a picture of cousin Emma holding Ana with Aunt Chris there to supervise. In the side picture Ana is working on her sitting up skills. This only lasts for brief moments, but you can tell she is getting stronger. There is also a picture of some of my mom's family at the Memorial Day picnic.

Wonder

Ana is definitely reminding me of the joy in wonder. She will being crying and then suddenly stop to look at her hand. She will just open and close her hand for several minutes. Or she will look around the room with eyes wide open taking it all in. And then she might just start laughing or "talking" about what she sees. It is such a delight to see her trying to figure things out and just marveling at the world around her.

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."-Albert Einstein

Here is Ana with her many stuffed animals.

New Skills

Ana rolled over! It was fun to see. Both Jeff and I got to be present. It took her several tries, but she did it! We cheered and she cried. It's those simple things that are so exciting!
Here are some
other pics too.

Amazing Grace

I recommend the movie "Amazing Grace" that has just come out in theaters. Unfortunately, it may not be in a theater near you, but more likely in the closest city. This movie is about William Wilberforce who worked for a total of 46 years to ban the slave trade and slavery in Great Britain in the early 1800s. I liked the movie because it shows he is not just one man, but a part of a community who works for change. It also attempts to show the struggle he faced to continue in politics after becoming a Christian. I think God can use people in all types of positions. We are the body with many parts and I believe this includes the types of occupations we fulfill. It reminds me of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s quote "If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well." I think Wilberforce does work towards shalom within the vocation that he is equipped for and I think we should all strive for shalom through the gifting and skill set we've been given.
I would also recommend checking out the website www.amazingchange.com because we do not have to be apart of Wilberforce's time to help end slavery. There are currently 27 million people still in slavery in the world today. We can work to change this statistic.

This post is rated "V"

Kelly and I recently watched V for Vendetta, a film based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Loyd published in the 1980s. I was talking with somebody about this movie the other day and they said that they totally hated the movie. I can see and respect how one might dislike this movie...but the same aspects of the movie that caused them to dislike it are exactly why I would recommend it!
The "hero" of the film is a terrorist, and the film wrestles with this and is ambiguous as to whether or not the terrorist is actually "good" or not. Most people like movies that have very clear delineations between the "bad guys," and the "good guys." V for Vendetta does not.
There is a point in the film where V (Hugo Weaving) has just revealed to Evey (Natalie Portman) that he killed a very corrupt political figure. She is upset at him for doing so, but he quips something to the effect, "You didn't seem to mind when I killed a man who was attacking you!"

I won't ruin the story for you, because I think you should see it! But there's another point where V says to Evey, attempting to justify his actions, "What they did to me was monstrous!" and she responds, "And they created a monster!" I believe terrorism is not justifiable, and we are always responsible for our own actions, however, terrorists are usually created by their circumstances. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter! In the musical "Wicked" there's this line in a song,
"A man's called a traitor
or liberator.
A rich man's a thief
or philanthropist.
Is one a crusader,
or ruthless invader.
It's all in which label,
is able to persist.

There are precious few at ease,
with moral ambiguities,
So we act as though they don't exist!"

What is our response when a corrupt, violent, Authoritarian Government (like in V for Vendetta) is in place? Do we sit back and accept the lies that they tell us, or do we respond? What is our response when innocents are maliciously trampled upon and abused? Do we sit back knowing that we haven't been harmed, or do we respond? What about when we know that someone is going to turn us over to our death? Do we just let it happen, or do we respond? As a follower of Christ, I must stand up for truth, and the poor and disenfranchised, and I must respond, AND I must respond in love, which, by definition, "does no harm." I do not condone the actions of the "hero" of the film, but neither do I support the government which he opposes. SO, we must ask ourselves, how in the world do we respond?!

There are two other movies that I think approach this topic well. The Boondock Saints, and Munich. V for Vendetta is violent, but it's more like Matrix violence but with a little more blood. Both of the other movies are violent as well, however Munich is by far the most violent film I've ever seen. I cannot actually recommend anyone seeing it, because I seriously suffered traumatically from the images in that film. However, V for Vendetta is brilliant, Orwelian, and timely, and I think it's a great place to begin such a conversation.

As far as responding to injustices in our world, our quote of this month says something about that, "Non-violence is the answer of our time's crucial political and moral questions. The need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression." --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For more on that, though not written by Dr. King, check out a fantastic book that deserves, but won't herein, get it's own post, Choosing Against War: A Christian View, which is definitely a book that has been formational to my understanding of God's love and how we as Christians should be reflecting and extending that to a hurting world.

Unconditional Love

I have heard so many times before that our relationships are often reflections of our relationship with God. Now that I'm a parent it has become even more apparent :) to me. This little person comes into your life, is totally dependent, gets messy, gets you messy, gets your plans messy and yet you completely love them. Simply because of who they are. It gives me a small glimpse of how God loves us.

New tricks, etc.

Ana was weighed today, and while, yes, she had her diaper on at the time, she weighed in at 12lbs. 14oz.!!! She's not even quite two months old yet. We were told she's in something like the 95th percentile for weight. So, she's eating well! :) She's also, I think they said, in the 75th percentile for length. So she's growing well...and I'm feeling it in my back! Note to self: start exercising...

Recently, her newest tricks include:
~drooling
~lifting her head while on her tummy
~laying on her back or tummy and just chillin', taking in life, usually staring at one thing for several minutes at a time...as documented by the below pictures. :)

~oh yeah, and she's smiling more often!

MLK Day

This morning Jeff and I had the opportunity to attend a breakfast to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. We got to sing "Lift every voice and sing" with the rest of community present at the breakfast. I've heard this song before, but never actually read the words. The song is about hope and trust in a God who has led through hard and bitter places.
I think Martin Luther King must have been a man of hope to be able to see a vision of what the kingdom and this earth should look like, on the way things God intended them to be. A hope that was not only for himself, but for all people to be reconciled to God and each other. I have been reading a book entitled, "Engaging God's World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living" by Cornelius Plantinga Jr. He discusses the hope we should have as Christians. He states, "It's natural and healthy to hope for ourselves, but it's provincial and unhealthy to hope only for ourselves. . .If we hope as the prophets and apostles did, then we shall hope not only for ourselves but also for people we must struggle to understand. We shall hope for people we may never have met, such as Indonesians of Chinese descent, mercilessly persecuted by their own military, or Korean Christians haunted by memories of Japanese cruelty and struggling to quiet their anger over it. We shall trust God to bring forgiveness and peace for generations we can only imagine. . .To summarize this way of thinking, we might say that biblical hope-the real thing-must have faith on one side of it and love on the other." He goes on to discuss this in more detail, I suggest reading it, it's quite good.
I see Martin Luther King, Jr. as a man who had this kind of hope and love for his neighbor. I'm glad that we have a day to remember and to hopefully catch his/the biblical vision for each other.

My name is...

So I found this on one of my friend's blog, Amanda Marble, you can click on the link ot the right if you'd like to.
Apparently, based on the popularity of the names Jeffrey and Bergeson there are 8 other individuals in the U.S. with my same name! Apparently there are also 5 other Kelly Bergesons.
However, to our amazement, our daughter has a singularly unique name for U.S. citizens according to this website! No other Anastasia Bergesons!!!
How many folks share your name? Check it out! Click here.

Divided by Faith

So I finally finished reading Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America. I started it in June during CCO NST, and for various reasons including busy-ness, or other readings, (or laziness) I didn't finish it until a week and a half ago. Now a good chunk of the book is publishings on findings of the authors' 2,000 phone interviews and 200 face-to-face interviews with American Evangelicals, so that fact alone makes it a little hard to read at times. That having been said, I think every single White American who claims to be Evangelical should read this book! Yeah, seriously...Emerson's and Smith's findings are extraordinary and convicting.

By and large they've found that -- although there is but one Jesus Christ -- because of our places in life, Americans are literally divided by faith. The stronger one's faith is, instead of seeing things the same way, it turns out that the further on one side of the spectrum or the other their view of the race problem in America based on the color of their skin. It's fascinating and amazingly sad, especially since as The Church we're supposed to be united. At any rate, they've done extensive work documenting how/why we aren't united particularly along the lines of race, which are arbitrary physical characteristics, according to most definitions.

Kelly read an article while working on her Master's in Social Work entitled White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack. I believe it was in there that I heard the metaphor of walking along a moving sidewalk -- you know, the ones that they use in airports -- and you're heading towards a bad place (i.e. reinforcing racialization). You can stand still because it doesn't seem to be affecting you, but still in fact move towards it; you can actually walk towards it, speeding up the process; or you can take on the arduous task of actually walking against that sidewalk. I want to be walking against the grain, but because this is something that does not confront me daily like it would if my skin was a different tone, it's hard to notice that I'm moving in the wrong direction.

This book convicts me, and the sad fact that it took me so long to read it, despite it being rife with statistics, is another indication that I'm not working hard enough at walking against the sidewalk--in the right direction.

Ana!

Well, we just thought we'd share some pictures of our newest addition!

Day One

Hello all!
This is our brand new blog. We just set it up today, and we have a long way to go to get it fully up and running. So please give us a little bit of time.
We'll add all sorts of stuff to our blog including pictures of Ana, thoughts about books we're reading, movies we're watching, music we're listening to, and things that are going on in the world and our ministry at Kenyon College through the CCO.

Hopefully you'll find our blog amusing/interesting/helpful/informative/strange.

Peace,
J&K