Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Valley (08/10/06)
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TITLE: Valley of the Shadow of Death: A Prose Poem | Previous Challenge Entry
By Sue Stone
08/11/06 -
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Valley of the Shadow of Death, I have walked your dark and threatening paths a time or two - that place where the walls of life shut in where we walk through a narrow canyon whose rock cliffs reach up steep and high, and the sunlight is blocked. the way unclear, and we are led into a place where we see no escape, where we cannot see if there is any ahead to help us or if we will see the next dawn.
Valley of the Shadow of Death, how quickly we can be plummet into your depths! One moment we think we are standing in the sun, but all along we are walking down your narrow path, about to be plunged into the shadows. But there you force us to face what really matters - where we learn the truth of how frail our life is, how near eternity is at any minute, coming as it might in pain or shock or fear or sleep. It is in your embrace we learn how easy it is to be there one moment and not the the next.
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Valley of the Shadow of Death, you have been my teacher, and have taught me well. I have felt the cold breath of your shadow blow across my neck, your dark hand bringing me to that moment where I lay doubled over, kissed with pain and and the not knowing what was coming next. And there it was I learned the true lesson of your darkness.
Valley of the Shadow of Death, I shall not fear you. There you showed me the true reality - that within your darkness a light hides so bright that there are no words. Trembling on the ground in that timeless moment of pain, He was there with me, my God, my Shepherd and in His hands, there was that peace that made no sense but was perfect sense. I have felt his hand in that land of shadow, that place between life and death, and I know the touch of His comfort. And in that place of shadow, I learned the truth of His promise.
Valley of the Shadow of Death, teacher who leads us to that place where we may know the reality that counts, our gateway into tomorrow, no I will not fear you, for you open to me my final hope. May I dwell in the house of my Lord forever,
Amen.
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