In "Skywire Live With Nik Wallenda," which aired yesterday, June 23, on Discovery Channel, fans who saw high-wire walker Nik Wallenda stride carefully and successfully on a two-inch-thick cable 1,500 feet in the air over Arizona's Colorado River Gorge, not far from the Grand Canyon, heard what amounted to a 22-minute prayer.
Before the walk, Wallenda and his family prayed with noted preacher Joel Osteen. Then, wearing no safety harness and buffeted by powerful winds up on the wire, the 34-year-old husband and father of three spoke occasionally to his own father via an earpiece, but spent most of the rest of his time praising and thanking Jesus Christ, asking help with the swaying wire and to stay calm during the traverse.
Speaking to Zap2it before the walk, Wallenda - who also has released an autobiography, called "Balance: A Story of Faith, Family and Life on the Line" - talks about the role of faith in his life and career.
"Faith plays a huge role in my life," Wallenda says. "In my career, other than it is a huge piece of my life, I don't feel like it plays a huge role in my career. One of the questions I get often is, 'Are you testing God when you walk the wire?' Well, my answer to that is, 'No, to be testing God would be to get on the wire and have no training, no experience whatsoever.'
"I believe God's given me a unique talent, but it's up to me to train properly and prepare properly. I'm not stuck up there because of Him."
Asked if there is a spiritual component to being up in the air, Wallenda says, "There is. There is. You're in a place where no one's ever -- people say, 'How do you stay calm?' 'Often, I talk to God,' I say, 'and that keeps me calm. Who else am I going to talk to up there?' Very often, I'm not connected to my dad or reporters. I have a conversation with God."
"I feel like there's a will for all of our lives, and the most religious people in the world can be killed tomorrow. Was that because they weren't religious enough? No. When it's your time, it's your time. That's just the reality.
"In my opinion, not to get too religious, if God wanted us to be robots, we would be robots. We all have our own will and make our own choices."
The stakes couldn’t have been higher on June 23, when Nik, 34, walked a quarter-mile across the Grand Canyon, almost 1,500 feet above ground. The high-wire act had stars like Kaley Cuoco, Phillip Phillips and more biting their nails, and exuding extreme joy and relief when Nik successfully crossed the gap after a tense 23-minute journey.
The Big Bang Theory star could not believe that Nik actually ran the last bit of the wire act. “Did he just ‘jog it in’?!?!” she tweeted.
Meanwhile, Phillip was just happy to see him make it to the finish line: “Wow! Absolutely amazing!!! Congrats @NikWallenda ! #skywire #toldyounottolookdown,” he wrote.
And Suze Orman said, “Now that was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.”
Nik also got some love from the sports world. Eric LeGrand, the football player who was paralyzed during a college game but has inspirationally worked regain movement in his shoulders, actually found inspiration in Nik: “Wow he did it. Live your dreams but only once don’t try that mess again lol congrats Nick. I’m good crossing in a plane #skywire,” Eric tweeted.
And baseball player Bryce Harper wrote, “Good for him! So happy for him! To God be the glory! #SKYWIRE.”
