Donald Grey Barnhouse was driving his children to the funeral of their mother. While they were stopped at an intersection, a semi-tractor trailer crossed in front of them, momentarily casting a shadow on their car. Barnhouse asked his children, “Would you rather be struck by the semi or the shadow?”

“The shadow, of course,” they replied.

“That’s what has happened to us,” said Barnhouse. “Mother’s dying is only the shadow of death. The lost sinner is struck by the semi of death.”

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…”—Psalm 23:4.

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”—John 11:25-26.