shadows and light

"Even though I walk through *the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me."
                     Psalm 23:4

Shadows are not real.
Well, they are, in the sense that we can see them,
but they have no substance.

"A shadow is an area where light from a light source is obstructed by an object.It occupies all of the space behind an opaque object with light in front of it." 

Sometimes shadows make things look bigger than they really are:

Sometimes shadows make what is, look like what isn't:

(hand shadow art eludes my abilities)

An alternate translation for "the valley of the shadow of death" is: "the valley of deep darkness"

"Even though I walk through the valley of deep darkness
    I will fear no evil,"

How many of us have had shadows like this lurking-
in a closet
under our bed
around a corner
at the bottom of the steps?

I remember, 
as a child,
I hated going to our basement, 
but only at night.
Why?
Because the light for the basement 
was operated by a pull chain 
at the bottom of the stairs.
The light from the room at the top of the stairs 
cast shadows down those stairs.
I always breathed easier and slower when I safely pulled that chain
and light bathed the area.
(My heart is kind of pounding now just remembering!)
I got in trouble more than once 
for leaving the light on when I came back up.
When I did turn it off, 
I ran as fast as I could toward the light at the top of the stairs.
The only thing worse than going into darkness and shadows 
is having them chase you from behind!

Shadow. 
"A shadow is a region of darkness where light is blocked."

I am a grown up now.
I realize that shadows are a distortion of what is real.
I also know that if I keep my eyes on the Light, 
I don't even see the shadows.
Therefore, 

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of

death, 

of the valley of deep darkness,

I will fear no evil,

for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff,

they comfort me."

Psalm 23:4

"...Jesus spoke to them, saying, 

“I am the light of the world. 

Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, 

but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12