I've been trying to learn my new computer, Vista, Word 2007, and WordPerfect X3 all at the same time. I think I'm finally getting there.

X3? What happened to 13? This IS the 21st century. Superstitions still shackle some people I guess. Life is too short to waste time on such trivia. Like the old story about the two prisoners in the dungeon. One saw only the bars on his window; the other saw the blue sky, the clouds, the birds, and the stars through the bars on his.

"Look at the stars, not the bars."

The Lord is my Shepherd. Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.

I have always envisioned the valley as a dark, barren place, with a bit of gray light--enough to see, but dim and threatening. The "valley of darkness" some translations call it, or the "valley of the shadow," the "valley of death," or "a difficult time."

It's difficult all right!

"I will fear no evil" the Psalmist says, so obviously evil is present in this valley of the shadow of death, or might be. But then he adds, "For Thou art with me!" The Lord is with us in this valley, on this journey?

But if God is there, then there is light--His light! And not just a dim grayness.

Maybe this shadow is just that: a shadow. From what? A tree? Probably a dead tree, casting a large creepy shadow. Or might it be the Cross? It could be from a huge rock, for probably no trees ever grew in that barren place.

But then again, King David speaks of green pastures and still waters. Lakes and ponds may rest on mountains in cirques or tarns, but those are still valleys of a sort. Lakes and ponds of still water are commonly found on valley floors. A stream forms a valley--rushing, tumbling, burbling streams come down the mountains and hills.

"Still waters" can, of course, refer to ice or snow, and may be found if one takes a pathway high on the mountainside. God doesn't say we have to stay on the main path on the valley floor. Green pastures can be found high on the mountains just as in low fields.

But "green" and "lakes." There is suddenly for me a vision of Light, if not sunlight. (St. John said no sun or moon was needed in God's presence, for He is the Light thereof.)

This valley isn't dark after all. But maybe it is Life itself, and we journey through it. We can't see the end, anymore than we can anytime we walk somewhere new with a friend, or a Friend.

And the Shadow is just that: a shadow. Dark, but insubstantial--not really there, but just a shadow, like a reflection. You can pass through it, and if you're busy talking to your friend, or praying to your Friend, you might do no more than notice coolness on a hot summer day.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me."

I look at the valley differently now.