Open Road Press

Sometimes there’s a fine line between success and failure. Some might even argue there is a fine line between sanity and insanity. And sometimes the stakes are very high.

Did you watch Nik Wallenda cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope?  Debbie and I were particularly interested because of our stop at Niagara on our 2010 bicycle adventure. The obvious question was: Why did he do it?

What is it that would drive someone to walk four football field lengths across a two inch wire in darkness with wind and spray from the turbulent falls 200-feet below, making a dangerous task seemingly impossible, as the abyss waits to swallow him up with the slightest waver?

Could it be money? Well, I’m sure he stands to profit handsomely from his successful stunt. But would you do it for a few million dollars? Not me!

Maybe he just likes the limelight. There were in excess of 100,000 anxious people fallside and millions more watching on primetime television, waiting to be thrilled. Would you do it for the fame?

The stories leading up to the daredevil stunt were fascinating. The Wallenda family has been walking the tightrope for generations, despite several performance-related fatalities. During ABC’s broadcast, we saw family shots of kids learning to walk the line. And an 84-year-old matriarch walking along with her grandson.

One might say, then, it is in his blood. Living on the edge is who he is. It is his passion, and his gift he brings to the world. It is a striking demonstration of courage–courage justified by years of conditioning, training, and authentically being who he was made to be and doing what he was made to do. His poise was beyond imaginable as he calmly carried on conversations with his father and the media while concentrating on his every next step.

His walk was captivating. Wallenda, a devout Christian, continually prayed prayers of thanksgiving and adoration to God as his balancing pole teetered from side to side. Thank you Nik Wallenda. Thanks for inspiring us, and perhaps even challenging us to do what we were meant to do and be who we were meant to be. And thanks for reminding us it is God who blesses us with the opportunities to pursue our dreams.