Postmodern Renaissance Culture Revolutionary

Okay, that last post was long winded. But I get paid by the word. There was another incident at Disney that cannot be lived down. And this one, I am ashamed to admit, is somewhat offensive to some sensibilities. So if you are offended by bodily functions and the natural processes the body goes through to digest food, you may want to go on. Now. EPCOT was fairly new. Back then it was cool to go into the communication center and call and book your dining when you got into the park. It was supposed to be a cool thing to do. {Reflective pause} Kinda lost something over time, didn’t it. Like color T.V. And their shows. So we went to EPCOT to enjoy the newest, non-Magic Kingdom experience. And while gadgets and science are all cool stuff, I was looking forward to the World Showcase. I always like exploring and seeing new places. As we were looking through the dining option, we settled upon the Mexico pavilion. So lunch plans were set. We toured the coolness of E...

Now before we get to the trip in earnest, or Orlando if you must be specific, I feel I must share some historical milestones along the path to this trip. Why??? Filler, people. It’s something to chew on whilst you wait for the start of the actual trip. So, picture this: 1984. I am the plucky young age of 13. I was a chubby, nerdy type; even then; as now. Only now I have less hair. My family (consisting of my Aunt, my Mother, me, my sister {it ain’t grammatically correct - - it’s chronological}) wings our way to Orlando and stay offsite. We do this because we weren’t going to spend all of our time at WDW. And we were cheap. This was before Disneyitis had set in in my life. So we do MK and EPCOT. Because that was all there was then. At that time, there wasn’t a Test Track. Or the Living Seas – even Nemo-less. If you asked who Nemo was, the answer would have been the captain of the Nautilus (for literate types) or some cartoon on Captain Kangaroo. Now I must digress here to share a tra...

Part 3 – The use of free dining Like so many millions before, we jumped at the chance of the free dining. For those of you who may not be Disney nuts, I will explain. Disney sells vacation packages - room and park passes. But they also have upgrades. One of the most popular upgrades is a dining plan. For about $40/night, you get one sit down meal, one walk up counter type meal (like a fast food restaurant), and a snack (just about any tasty treat or drink under $4). Well Disney also runs promotions where you get the dining plan free. That's right - FREE! Free food! I love food. So when we knew we were going back to the World, we got right to the menus. Where, o where, shall we eat? One problem really stood in the way of enjoying all of the great eats: #2S. He is not a finicky eater. He refuses to eat anything outside of his own approved menu. Which is only about 5 items long. And changes hourly. How picky is this kid, you may wonder? Pizza is a great example. He loves piz...

Part 2 – The Plan is set….No wait let’s change that. So in November of 2005 we set about the plan to go to the World. I am a planner. I love to plan things. I may not do them, but I love the plan. So I am looking at how many days, where we would eat, when we should go, how long we need to save the money up to go for as long as we want, eat where we want to eat, and the earliest we could go. We set our eyes on the Fall of 2006. I prefer vacations in the Fall. My summers are busy. “Wait,” you say. “You are a pastor. You only work one day a week.” Well that is true. NOT. I am very involved with Methodist youth camps in Oklahoma. And those occur during the Summer. My slow time begins in August and ends in October. So we knew that September/October was best. Then I began to get a whiff of something. The salty sea air. I began to read about the Disney Cruise Line. “Hey Lisa,” says I, “what would you think about a cruise?” “What about it,” says she. So we begin to lo...

For everyone interested, I will be posting trip reports on the blog. I will post each day a little of what is happening. For the next 8-9 days will be the pre-trip report. Me – Todd – 35 – United Methodist pastor, Disney nut, nerd, and all around introvert. If I don’t speak to you, don’t take it personal. DW – Lisa – I’ll let her give her age – Office manager for the same church I pastor (my boss), sweetheart, Fantastic wife and mother. She is the better side of me most of the time. #1S – Nick – 7 – My clone, only much better with people. Wants to be a food scientist. #2S – Andrew – 4 – Lisa’s clone, only much funnier all of the time. Will likely end up being a character in a theme park. This trip begins in 2005. November, if I am not mistaken. Well, no. It starts in 2003. See that was the first Bergman Family trip. We hastily threw together a trip to WDW. We were wanting to take a vacation (I rarely do so…take one…I want one daily). So we planned a trip for Fall. But the...

Well, back to my heroes. Remember that my heroes are people who have impacted my worldview. They are not necessarily people who have done something remarkable. Spiderman was first. This week I will share with you why Dave Ramsey is my hero. Let me take you back to college. I was out on my own for the first time, ever. I had an apartment with a classmate from college. I wasn't a party-animal. In fact, I was employed at a campus ministry. That was good work, just not great pay. I also had a student job on campus in the library. Government Documents was my office. Processing government documents into the library collection was my job. Not much fun, but interesting at times. Also, not great pay. But I was getting by. It was during my time out on my own that I learned about my propensity for procrastination. It occurred to me when I realized that I would pay rent a little late. Not overly, evicted soon, late. Just a day or so. "Can I bring it on Friday?" late. When I graduated...

Sorry for the delay folks. Also, I am bumping the Heroes installment this week. Maybe later in the week I'll get to it. Today I just really feel like talking about worldviews. Everyone has one. They may not know that. But you have a worldview. This is how you perceive things and respond to actions, ideas, and people. If I say red you will think the color - red . But during the craziness of the anti-Communist movement of the 50's, red would have been associated with Communism. Not just the color. Same thing with the French a few years back. Two people can have similar worldviews, but it is not very probable that they will have the same worldview. And in the differences of worldview there is potential for conflict. Think Adolf Hitler. His worldview was that Germans needed to room to propser ( lebensraum ). It's just that his idea of "room" meant pretty much all of continental Europe and excluded anyone who might be a potential fly in the living room. Hence the littl...

I mentioned in my last "official" post that Walt Disney was one of my heroes. I thought I would give you some insight into my world and share with you who my heroes are. Let me begin by defining what I mean by hero. A hero is someone who has done something or stood for something that I believe can contribute to the way I live. It is not someone who has done something great, that no one else could. It is not someone who has done one act of heroism. It is someone who has added to my understanding and practice of life. The first hero I ever looked up to was Spiderman. Yeah. Red and blue tights. Comic book guy. I really identified with Spiderman growing up. He was a nerdy kid in school. He was picked on and considered an outsider. Until one day he was changed. He took on some extraordinary powers. And he felt called to do something about problems he encountered. What really meant a lot to me, and has shaped my life, was Spiderman's motto: With great power comes great responsi...

Friday night I went out with my wife, mother, and sister to see Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It was put on by the Oklahoma Shakespeare Festival. It was held in the the new Robson Performing Arts Center in Claremore. This is a mini-review of the performance, but there is something more to come at the end. First, let me begin by saying I am a Disney nut. NOT Disney the company, but Disney the ideal. Walt Disney is one of three heroes I have in my life. The ideal of Disney was to put on the best show possible. So when I see something with the Disney name, I immediately look at it with the ideal in mind. Is that unfair? Second, when it comes to plays I have a pretty high standard to meet. New Yorkers are either Broadway or off-Broadway types. It is what they are used to. My first play experience was a little more grand than even that. The first play (opera really) I ever attended was in Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre. I am not a conoisseur of great plays by any stretch of the imaginati...

Fasting. Wow! What an experience. I have to say that I experienced my first, true, fast this week. Now before any of you get up in arms saying that as a United Methodist preacher that is a shame, allow me to explain. I have "fasted" before. I have given things up. I have gone without food or certain types of food. I believed I was doing the right thing. I thought I was "fasting" the way it was supposed to be done. But my most recent experience taught me something - I have a lot to learn and experience about fasting. The leadership of the church made a voluntary call to members to be in a time of prayer and fasting for 24 hours. It was not an accountable fast. People could choose to participate in prayer and/or fasting as they wanted. The reason for the call to a time of prayer and fasting was started by the concern over the finances of the church. Like many non-profits, we are hurting financially. So the leadership asked the church to spend 24 hours sacrificing and ...

I got an email from Christianity Today with a link to the following article: Back to the Book Seven ways to ignite a passion for reading the Bible. by Kathy Widenhouse The 7 Excuses No time Don't know where to begin Don't get it It's dull Doesn't apply to life I hear it on Sunday It makes me uncomfortable Okay, 7 reasons to not read the Bible. Is that really all there is? I look at that list and see that one very profound excuse, and the honest truth, is not there. I don't want to. Let me just say that I am not great at reading my bibles on a regular basis. I have great, heavenly, holy intentions. But when it comes down to it, I have to answer the question honestly. I don't want to read it enough to pick it up. We are all accountable for our actions. It is not our schedules fault, our Sunday School teachers'/preachers' fault, the Bible's fault. We just don't want to read it enough to make it a priority. We will do what we want, when we want, no m...

Photo of the day: Oklahoma Aquarium Jelly Fish The Little Sprouts mother-day-out program went to the Oklahoma Aquarium yesterday. 50 kids and parents descended and took in all of the glorious fishiness of the aquarium. I have to say that my favorite exhibits were the jellyfish. I don't know why but they were poetry in motion and color. This picture is just one example of the beauty of these simple creatures. And there is also the implicit example of Christ in this image. The beautiful interior cross image reminds us of the place of Christ at the center of our lives. But there is something else to notice. This cross is highlighted and seems to shine with its own light. Of course there is a black light being projected into the tank, thus luminescing the interior membranes. But to the outside observer, this center seems to shine on its own. " You are the light of the world--like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don't hide your light under a basket! I...