"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me..."

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me..." Psalm 22:4

Look down beneath your feet: an abyss draws near... The path affright with avalanches dire. To stand in place is useless, crystal clear, And backward now—you cannot yet retire.

Forward—alone... your knees begin to shake, Your footstep wavers, finds no solid ground. Below, the valley where the shadows break, The trail pulls downward toward that death-bound sound.

You say: "I'm young and beautiful and bright, With life ablaze and burning in my soul. The grave's cold touch is not for me outright, Decay and rest—they are not my life's goal..."

Alas—such reasoning, however grand, Cannot dissolve the trouble you will meet. Through death's dark valley every soul must stand— The path to darkness all of us must greet.

A little sooner... later... does it matter? Death cannot be postponed or set aside. Yet lighter falls the soul when earthly matter Dissolves—redeemed by Christ's own sacrifice!

For those whom His own blood has bought and freed, Who faith did not dismiss as madness wild, Who gazed on Christ with love in every deed Throughout their measured years as His own child.

How many who were younger have now passed And vanished into time's consuming dust! Let every day be lived as if the last— As if today remains our only trust...