The Valley of the Shadow of Death

A while back, I read a quote that said “grief is like staring at a dark shadow and failing to see the abundant light behind me.”  It made me think of the verse in the 23^rd Psalm about walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

Anyone who has ever lost a loved one has walked through that valley. Yet the valley is different for everyone and for every loss.  Some valleys are short with a relatively straight path. Others are long, with many paths to choose from. Some people run quickly through the valley. Others take slow, deliberate steps. Some wander around, walking in circles. Still others sit down and stay awhile. There isn’t a right or wrong amount of time to spend there.  Sometimes you feel like you are on the right path and nearing the exit, only to find the path twists back deeply into the valley once again. Yes, each valley is different, but they each have something in common as well: shadows. That is the nature of valleys.

As we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, it isn’t the valley itself that we fear.  It’s the dark shadows that reside there that bring us pain.  After all, they are the shadows of death.  Each shadow reminds us of what we have lost. We’ve lost the one we held so dear. We’ve lost the chance to ask the questions and say the things we should have said. We’ve lost the person who could always make us laugh. We’ve lost the person who would always listen and encourage us. We’ve lost a friend or neighbor or aunt or brother or grandpa or child or mother. We’ve lost a piece of ourselves. Each shadow painfully reminds us of this.

But if we change our focus, things look differently. If we look up to the sky, we notice the reason for the dark shadows. It is the beautiful bright sun shining on the hills that casts shadows down into the valleys. It is the life we had with our loved one, the joy we had with them, the light they brought into our lives that is casting the shadow. If we hadn’t known their love, there would be no shadows now that they are gone.  But then, there never would have been the sunshine either.  There would only have been cloudy days, the days where no shadows are found. I think it is better to walk through long valleys of shadows than to never have felt the warmth of the sunshine on your face.  

The best part is to realize that this whole life really is the valley of the shadow of death.  That probably sounds depressing or even morbid, but it really isn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I love my life and family and friends. I love the beauty of nature that surrounds me. But this life has shadows. It has pain and suffering, heartache and loss. One day my focus will change. I may notice my focus slowly changing or it might happen in an instant when I least expect it. When it happens, I will look up and see the most incredible Light ever. It will be so brilliant that the sun will pale in comparison. And this Light will cast a shadow so deep and dark onto the earth that I will focus only on the Light itself. At that moment I will know that I have finally found my way out of the valley of the shadow of death.