Edward Chinn

Bill Cosby is walking through a dark valley – the valley of physical decline. Earlier this year, Cosby appeared at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. He said this to the audience: “On July 12, I’ll be 65 years old. You young people need to understand how great you have it. People say age is only in your mind. NO! There are things my mind wants to do but my body says, ‘You can’t do that! If you attempt to do it, you’ll hurt yourself.'” (National Enquirer, July 3, 2002). The Bible promises that “those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs” (Psalm 84:6). What “spring,” what advantage can Bill Cosby find in this valley of decline? He is finding the advantage of being realistic about his passing years.

Harrison Ford walked through dark valleys, too. In 1960, Ford entered Ripon College in Wisconsin. There he walked through the desolate valley of depression. Dotson Rader says this about Ford’s college days: “His academic performance was less than sparkling. He sometimes spent days in bed, sleeping between meals, depressed” (Parade Magazine, July 7, 2002). In the early 1970’s, Ford walked through another valley of discouragement. He stopped acting and taught himself carpentry. Through those desolate valleys, Harrison Ford found the advantage of being able to reflect on his future and to sharpen of his focus as an actor.

One hundred years ago, Booker T. Washington was the most influential black leader in the United States. Washington was born a slave in Virginia in 1856. As a slave boy, he was forced to carry the books of his white master’s children to school, but the school doors were closed to him. Washington walked the valley of disadvantages, but these early experiences bred into him a passion for education. He used to talk about “the advantages of disadvantages.” From that desolate valley of disadvantages, Booker T. Washington found the advantage of appreciating the importance of education. He founded the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

Consider such desolate valleys as disease, disability, discouragement, doubt, delinquency, disillusionment, and the death of loved ones. Yet, the Hebrew poet wrote: “Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs.” In a place called “Death Valley” in California, people found borax deposits in 1873. The famous 20-mule team hauled those resources out of the valley. Whatever valley you’re now traveling, be sure there are advantages there that you can find. In that desolate valley you can find the resources of realism, reflection, and a renewed sense of direction for your life.