The Wallendas was one of the greatest high-wire act in circus history. It was Karl Wallenda, the family patriarch, who first devised the three-tier pyramid in 1927. It was not until 1947 that "The Flying Wallendas" fashioned the famous seven-man pyramid and performed it without catastrophe from 1948 to 1962, for fifteen years. The seven-man pryamid was composed of four men who stood on a wire stretched high into the air. On top of these four men were two men coupled together by shoulder bars. The final individual was at the pinnacle, a woman sitting and finally standing on a chair. After 15 years of successfully performing the seven-man pyramid, at the State Fair Coliseum in Detroit, sixty feet in the air without a net, disaster struck!

". . . on Jan. 31, 1962, the troupe was performing at the Colisseum in Detroit. Dieter Schepp, a relative newcomer to the group, was the lead man on the four-member base of the pyramid, meaning he was first onto the wire, the one who had to hold position the longest. Schepp, who was Karl Wallenda's nephew, had arrived from East Germany two years earlier with his little sister, Jana, in tow. Jana, 17, was performing at the apex of the pyramid, as the woman in the chair.

The shivery procession started across the wire. Apparently, Dieter Schepp lost his grip on his balancing bar. The spectators saw him throw the bar into the air, obviously with the intent of catching and regripping it, but he lost his balance. Before he fell back against the man behind him, he called out, "I can't hold anymore!"¹

Characteristically, there was no net to insure against error. Both Deiter, and Richard Faughman, Karl's son-in-law, were killed on the concrete floor of the Detroit Coliseum. Karl's son, Mario, also hit the concrete and was paralyzed from the waist down. Karl and Herman, who fell from the second level, clung to the wire. Karl was in great pain from a cracked pelvis, but he was able to grab a hold of the arm of Jana, who had fallen from the highest position atop a chair. Karl was able to hold of her until someone was able to quickly stretch out a net.

You can well imagine the terror that struck the high-wire troupe when they heard the words, "I can't hold anymore!" It was the lost grip and the subsequent lost of balance that turned the joy and excitement of a circus into a tragedy. Death, paralysis, and injury swept across a family of performers due to the mistake made on the foundation of the pyramid.

Jesus states, "my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Jesus alone can get us to the Father. There shall never be any loss of balance or any lost grip. The foundation is sure because Jesus alone composes it. What started out as a tragedy in the Garden of Eden has turned into an opportunity for rejoicing. Eternal life is ours through work of Christ on Calvary. Unlike men, there is truly no need of a safety net to insure against any error in judgement or ability. Neither will anyone have to quickly stretch out a net to catch those who have fallen from His grace. The Lord Jesus is infallible in footing and unerring in balance. He maketh no mistake, no not one. No matter how great the task, how weighty the load, how long the span, how unsteady the participants, Jesus will bring us safely to the Father.

1. Florence Shinkle, Rulers Of The Air The Flying Wallendas Are Bringing Their Daring High-Wire Pyramid To Circus Flora, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 04-28-1998, pp D1.