In this pleasure-loving age the so-called "Show Business" never seems to lack the "talent" necessary to provide hair-raising performances with which to thrill or amuse its patrons.
Recently it was reported, that while lying in his hospital bed where he had spent four years recovering from an automobile accident, a twenty-nine year old Montreal man conceived the idea of becoming the most incredible stunt man the world has ever known.
According to his promoters he will be called "The Human Fly," and attempt three spectacular feats in 1976-77. First, the Bonneville sky walk in which he will be strapped to the body of a Lear jet and assume a vertical stance fifteen feet from the front of the fuselage. This act is designed "to establish credibility and make himself a viable financial entity."
The major event, however, will be an attempt to make a one-minute jump across the English Channel strapped to the outside of a custom designed missile. Later he plans to use a similar missile to jump Mount Everest. A jump off the CN tower, the world's tallest freestanding structure, into a twenty-foot pool of water, is said to be also contemplated.
Such a daredevil program might have passed unnoticed had it not recalled to us that nearly sixty years ago another then famous performer known as the "Human Fly" astounded the world by climbing the walls of some of the tallest buildings in Canada and the United States.
The Human Fly, employed to help promote a War Bond Campaign in Hamilton, Canada, in 1919, successfully scaled the front wall of the Bank of Commerce building bare handed, pausing on window sills during his giddy ascent to shout victory slogans to the thousands who watched from the streets.
A short time later it was announced that this same Human Fly would climb up the face of one of the large department store buildings in Los Angeles. Long before the scheduled event began the area was packed with thousands of spectators to watch the incredible performance.
But slowly and confidently he began the upward climb, now grasping a window sill, then a jutting brick, then up on to a cornice, ever overcoming apparently insurmountable difficulties, till at last he reached the top.
Here he reached right and left above his head for something solid to bear him for the rest of the way. Then looking skyward he seemed to spot what appeared to be a piece of weather-worn brick or cement protruding from the otherwise smooth wall. Risking all in one last upward thrust he grasped the protuberance. It was a fatal leap! there was no substance there for a handhold. Before the horrified crowds he plummeted to the street to his death.
When his broken body was gathered up, his clenched hand was found to be holding a spider's web. What he thought was firm and dependable proved to be as nothing.
It is true that only a few today imagine, much less attempt, such outlandish feats. Yet how many millions there are endeavoring to reach heaven by their own efforts. Are you one of them? Oh, be warned, it is to attempt the impossible. The Lord Jesus Himself has declared: "I am the way... no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6).
Today the Savior calls,
For refuge fly!
The storm of judgment falls,
And death is nigh!