Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Wednesday October 18, 2006

Many of us here in the Wabash Valley have been praying for our friend, Dr. Berger. I don't know his first name, just Dr. Berger. He has been our doctor for the last 16 years, and was just a plain, good friend and excellent physician, Dr. Berger. He was 12 years my junior and yet, he goes home first. You never know about these times, they are in the hands of Lord.

I talked with Pastor Joe Sollars down in Alabama; Dr. Berger had been Joe's doctor when he lived up here. He made the 6 hour drive to Huntsville several times over the last month to visit Doc. They finally pulled the plug and Doc took the wings of the morning and went to the arms of Jesus.

You must know that during the last 16 years Joe, Doc and ole Larry here have had what the folks in the mountains call a 'passel' of trouble, mostly at different times and certainly different kinds of trouble, but in each case we rushed to the aid of the one going through the trouble. Each of us would at least admit to doing something dumb, yet the other two demonstrated true friendship in the hardest of times. An old Greek guy talked about friendship when he said:

"Misfortune shows those who are not really friends." - Aristotle

Dr. Berger certainly knew the same truth that Joe and I know, most friends are NOT friends forever, but in reality are fair weather associates. I am glad to have been considered one of Doc's friends.

The truly poor in our area will certainly miss Doc, as he was the old fashioned kind of doctor who would consider where you were financially in life and charge accordingly, often never even presenting a bill. His waiting room often reminded me of a Schweitzer third world hospital. Doc knew the Lord and he was good to people who were hurting.

Most of you, my dear readers will say, "Larry's friend the doctor died from injuries received in a motorcycle accident. How sad." And as you should you will move on with the life the good Lord has given to you. Locals will most likely send me little notes reminding me of some the 'other' aspects of Doc's life. Even if one of these "I think you should know" pieces communicates something new to me, I will simply say what Joe said to me while we were talking via the telephone, "We have been friends." When this statement is true, nothing can really change that.

A true friend does not need your approval for all actions, but a true friend must know that you 'love at all times.'

An anonymous writer wrote my closing thoughts on this piece:

"How blessed I am to have known someone who is so hard to say goodbye to."

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2006 Use with credit.

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