A Tribute and Reminder

By now everyone will have heard about the death of Andy Crowe. We are saddened at the news and yet in our hearts he lives on. There will be many testimonies of the great life he lived in his 15 years. 

I was blessed to be a part of the assemblies at the Brechin High School and to have an opportunity to interact with several of our Brechin teens. I want us all to know that we really are blessed to have the great group of teens we have in our community. Andy was one of them with goals and ambitions well beyond his years. I am thankful he lived the full though short life he did as an example for us. I do hope and pray that his example will be a catalyst to move all of us to live life to the fullest.

I also shared with the students, teachers and some of the other staff that I am glad to be a minister at times like this to share the message of hope, of peace and friendship that Jesus often spoke of. I am glad to represent Jesus who was called ‘a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief’. I am glad that when he went to the tomb of his friend he wept... if it was ok for him then it is ok for me as well to sorrow and grieve. But I am as well glad that Jesus also represents hope for a resurrection for his followers. I am glad that I get to share that part of the story in times like this as well.

The hard part is finding a way to explain the ‘Why’. Or to explain how long the hurt will last. The lack of a quick answer to this is still one of the mysteries of all time. But I lean on the unchanging God to have a purpose in all of this that someday I may understand and know that even in these hard times God will still be God and as hard as that is on me, it is enough.

So my sympathy is with family and friends and I am blessed to be a part of a life lived to the full. Can you say you are living the life God gave you to the full? I hope and pray that you do...

Rev. Jon Bergen