I Don’t Need Directions

When Anthony Olearchick, 86, and his wife Viola, 85, left their Kenilworth, New Jersey, home on an errand, the couple had no idea it would be over 24 hours before they would return home.

A wrong turn sent them on a journey of perhaps 800 miles through three states. Their excursion did not end until they collided with another car in Newton, New Jersey. Family members reported the couple missing after the usually punctual pair missed a doctor’s appointment. Viola suffers from several illnesses and requires two insulin shots per day and several other medications. Nevertheless, the couple only stopped two times over the 24-hour trip, and only for gas, not for food. “If you eat, you fall asleep,” Anthony noted.

The next part of the story is the most curious. The extended journey could have been avoided, but Anthony refused to ask for directions during the entire trip. Even while stopping for gasoline twice he would not ask for help. In the end, having a collision spared them.

Any resemblance between Mr. Olearchick and your husband is purely accidental.

Seriously, don’t we all know of people – perhaps even churches – that are lost somewhere in a fog and they don’t have a clue? Maybe they have wandered around in circles for years and they refuse to stop and ask for directions – to ask for help?

________

From Rev. Michael Jackson’s sermon, “You Can’t Just Sit There!” (Kerux sermon #17624) {9FD3F174-88CC-4925-AE64-B62D60C727C6}