Remarkable Courage at Remarkable Rocks
By Terry George
"A ccording to an article in The Advertiser, a South Australian newspaper, “Daniel O’Donnell died keeping a promise that he would sacrifice his own life for those entrusted to his care.
“The heroic Kangaroo Island tour guide, in his late thirties, was one of two men who drowned off Remarkable Rocks as they attempted to rescue a distressed member of their tour group. Mr. O’Donnell and a Scottish tourist in his mid thirties were swept from slippery rocks by a large wave as they tried to reach a German tourist who had fallen down a steep rock face onto the rugged coastline on the island’s southwest.
“Mr. O’Donnell, a father of two, lived by the rule he would put his life on the line for those in his care when he began his company, Daniel’s Tours, several years ago.”1
Having visited Kangaroo Island, just off the coast south of Adelaide, South Australia, on a number of occasions, I have stood at the top of the granite boulders called Remarkable Rocks and been completely spell-bound by the awesome sight of the huge waves rolling in from the Southern Ocean and crashing onto the rocks below.
The sheer beauty of this rugged and remote coastline is breathtaking. So when I read the article in The Advertiser by journalists Matt Clemow, Bryan Littley and Laura Anderson, I was immediately able to visualize the area and the danger it presents. I can only imagine the courage of the two men whose lives ended in such a tragedy.
 When he started his company
he
told me he would sacrifice
himself
for them … one of
those guys who
would do
anything to help people.
“‘When he started his company, he told me he would sacrifice himself for them,’ Mr. O’Donnell’s friend said. ‘Even if it meant he might drown himself. He was very experienced at what he did—one of those guys who would do anything to help people.’”2
At this Easter time this tragic event vividly reminds me of an even greater sacrifice that Jesus Christ made 2000 years ago for each one of us.
Although God created us to be in relationship with him, we were also given a free will to follow his ways or choose to go our own way. According to God’s Word, the Bible, we have all sinned and therefore been disconnected in our relationship with him.
Many people try to earn God’s favor by doing good works, being good, or by attending church regularly. While these are worthwhile goals, not one of us can earn our way into God’s presence via these means.
The Ten Commandments and all the rules and regulations contained within the Bible simply show us that we are not capable of meeting God’s standards by our own means. In his love and grace God devised an alternate plan that would allow us to once again be accepted back into relationship with him.
However, we need to accept his offer.
The truth, according to God’s Word, is that each of us will live for eternity. The question is, where will we reside and in what form? The answer to that will be determined by our relationship with God, the Creator of the entire universe, and that choice will be ours alone.
Continued on Page Two
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