On this day in 1797, André-Jacques Garnerin accomplished something that some had attempted but none had succeeded. Garnerin made the first successful jump with a parachute.
“Frenchman Louis-Sebastien Lenormand fashioned a kind of parachute out of two umbrellas and jumped from a tree in 1783, but André-Jacques Garnerin was the first to design and test parachutes capable of slowing a man’s fall from a high altitude.”1
The idea of a parachute was conceived by Leonardo da Vinci. Garnerin took the idea and fashioned a parachute out of a canopy that was 23 feet in diameter. Getting aboard a hot air balloon above Paris, Garnerin elevated to 3,200 feet before bailing out. The original concept lacked an air vent at the top of the parachute, so Garnerin’s descent was erratic. He landed safely, although a bit shaken from the turbulence.
“In 1799, Garnerin’s wife, Jeanne-Genevieve, became the first female parachutist. In 1802, Garnerin made a spectacular jump from 8,000 feet during an exhibition in England.”2
How did Garnerin die? “Ironically, André-Jacques Garnerin’s death did not happen on account of a parachute malfunction but on the ground while he was preparing for a balloon ascent. As he was readying a parachute for take-off on August 18, 1823, a sudden strong gust of wind made the contraption move violently and he suffered a fatal blow on the head from some heavy wooden rigging of the balloon.”3
Jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft is bad enough. Being the first person to test a new untested parachute – that just seems a bit insane! You have a 50/50 chance. Things will either go extremely well or extremely bad. There’s no margin for error. I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t be volunteering for such a task.
While we can’t interview Garnerin and ask why he would have been comfortable doing this, I think we can surmise some reasons. Garnerin trusted the physics and mechanics of such an attempt. He trusted his ability in making a parachute. He trusted the material that was used, believing it wouldn’t rip under the strain of the fall. He trusted da Vinci. His faith, though, had to be tested.
2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Garnerin had to put his faith in certain things, believing it would all work out but not seeing the results until he had reached the end of the trial.
Paul spoke of this kind of faith in 2 Timothy 1:12. “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” The Christian’s faith rests in the abilities of God. James 4:12 reminds us that “There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy…” He who is able to save is able to keep. We don’t keep ourselves saved. Jesus does that.
Do we trust the “material” that was used? We observe a time of remembrance of that material whenever we partake of the Lord’s Table. The perfect Lamb of God was sacrificed for us. His body was broken and His blood was spilled. The “material” was sinless and without sin, stain, or flaw. Do we trust it?
Garnerin could have told everyone how great of a plan he had developed. He could have heralded his abilities. He could have described the materials as the best quality man could have produced. But his words meant very little. He had to put it into practice. He had to take a leap of faith – literally.
As believers, how can we tell someone how great it is to be a Christian but all we do is worry and stew, fret and complain? We have to live by faith. We have to “put our money where our mouth is,” so to speak! It’s not a blind leap, though. We keep our eyes squarely fixed upon Jesus.
Many parachute enthusiasts jump from planes every day, trusting the example set by Garnerin 228 years ago today. Christian, let’s live a life that shows people what real, vibrant faith looks like. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
1https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/october-22/the-first-parachutist
2Ibid.
3https://www.sps-aviation.com/story/?id=1574
Images are taken from https://pixabay.com/, https://www.pexels.com/, or https://unsplash.com/images or created in Windows Copilot. According to the websites, they are Royalty Free and free to be used for our purposes.
