I don’t know if anyone else watched, but I was so glued to the television on June 23rd when Nik Wallenda successfully attempted to walk across the Grand Canyon on a wire. It was mesmerizing, for many reasons.
The breathtaking views, granted some of the camera changes made me a little nauseated. The sheer vastness of the attempt, that anyone has ambitions as grand as that amazes me. The absolute fear I had for him while he was walking, the moments when he stopped and knelt while the wind rushed and the wire shook - all of these moments kept my attention.
But more than that were his prayers. If you did not watch him, you did not hear him pray. In his every breath, in his every single step he was in a constant state of prayer for the entire world to witness. At first some of the praise Jesus’ rubbed me the wrong way, as can sometimes happen. But as it neared 23 minutes he was on the wire, his words were a true pray. He was praying for Jesus to be with his step, to calm his nerves, to settle the wind, to be present, to give him peace. He was fervently praying.
He was living what we preach - he was living in that moment with Christ at his heart in every single step. We sing songs about such prayer, every step I take, I take in you, you are my way Jesus…we sing these words, we preach these words, but how often do we live them - truly, sincerely, deeply live them?
That night watching him walk across the Grand Canyon I witnessed someone truly living into their faith, putting their every step in God’s hands. Now we can’t all walk across the Grand Canyon, we can’t all physically put our steps in God’s hands like he did that night, but we can live into his prayer that God be with our every step. We can live a life that in our every breath we are praising God, in our every movement we are asking Jesus to guide us, in our fears we are seeking God to calm them, and in our moments of great personal triumph we give the credit to our Maker.
I don’t know about anyone else, but Nik’s walk across the canyon will stick with me - because of his faith. A faith that he not only lived, but that was witnessed around this world. With a faith and a prayer that was genuine and sincere, he put his entire life in God’s hands in a way we can’t imagine, but in which we should strive.
Janice is a Presbyterian Minister serving a church in Southern West Virginia. She has two beautiful daughters, Eleanor (Ella) and Lillian (Lily) and is married to Jay, the most talented and creative person she has ever met. Together they enjoy the outdoors and spending time together experiencing the creativity of God through the world around them.