Remembering Mark Harmon
Dear Friends,
As you may have heard, our friend and Hollywood member, Mark Harmon, was found deceased in his home in La Crescenta Tuesday afternoon. He was only 33 years old. Many of you know him from his consistent, devoted, and capable work in our AV Department at the Hollywood and Burbank Adventist Churches. Mark was a native of this area.
It seems Mark collapsed while taking a shower. Once discovered, paramedics could not revive him. Apparently there was no evidence of foul play or self-inflicted injury. Mark’s father is waiting for the doctor's postmortem report. Mark had not been feeling well since Saturday evening.
I am still in shock. I was there, in Mark’s home, a witness to the terrible grief so natural on what became a horrible day, Even so, I can't get my mind around how someone so young, so vital, so engaged and excited in preparation for his own future can be gone—just like that. I'm flooded with questions both pragmatic and theological. Though my training works against it, it's hard not to turn to the heavens and ask the "Why?" questions you may be asking too. "Why one so young with his life before him? Why one of our best volunteers? Why someone so faithful? Why this genuine friend? Why? Why? Why?”
For better or worse, "Why?" is the wrong question. We're all going to go, and none of us know the day or the hour, a small mercy. What we know, but can never quite fully anticipate, is the shock and pain of particular losses. We can't anticipate the ways the fabric of our community is changed. We can't fathom what life might now look like. The exceptIon? That we still have faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is our love.
Pray for Mark’s father, Glenn, and the many neighbors and relatives who are grieving right now. Some of you may know that Pam, his mother, preceded him in death in 2023. Let's not forsake each other in this time of loss, but comfort one another. Let's let our own lights shine more brightly. Let us learn from Mark's patterns of service, giving and sharing as we move forward, living in the shadow of death and the hope of resurrection.
Even so, Lord Jesus, come....
Pr Greg