Peri Zahnd is a native of St. Joseph, Missouri--she travels often but always comes home. She and her husband Brian are the parents of four awesome children, Caleb, Aaron, Philip, and Word of Life Church. She has somehow acquired two remarkably beautiful daughter-in-laws, Ashlie and Sarah.
posted by Peri Zahnd on June 11, 2009 at 5:31 PM
This is an excerpt from the publisher's editorial, a tribute to Brian's dad, who died last Friday, June 5. It is beautiful, and even though I have read it through several times, I still can't do so without crying.
...Lastly, this community lost a legend this week. Unfortunately the ravages of disease had taken their toll on the Honorable Glen Zahnd before the news spread this week of his passing. He was a good and honest man. The kind of man you want your sons to be and your daughters to marry. He stood for something without having to shout it from a mountain top. He was a small town hero and filled his role here beyond the typical man. He served his fellow man; raised a great family with his lovely wife, Linda, and simply embodied what we all should strive to be. Have your kids read his obituary and encourage them to lead just a part of that life. It tells the story of a good man who has left his mark on not only things in our community but, more importantly, on the people of this community. May Glen Zahnd rest in peace and may this community be forever grateful that we could claim his as our own and his family be content in knowing that not only did they know he was a great man; the community did as well.
posted by Peri Zahnd on May 6, 2009 at 7:46 PMListen to your life.
See it for the fathomless mystery that it is.
In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness:
touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden part of it,
because in the last analysis all moments are key moments,
and life itself is grace.
---Frederick Buechner
posted by Peri Zahnd on April 13, 2009 at 7:28 AM
The day before Easter had been sunny, warm and beautiful, a perfect spring day. I had hopes for the same on Easter Sunday, and was awake to watch the sunrise. Sunrise on that sad morning 2,000 years ago was when the earth shook and everything changed forever--sunrise was the moment the Son of God rose from the dead.
The sky was brightening and at five minutes till seven an orange glow appeared on the eastern horizon. It grew and grew over the next couple of minutes, warming my heart as I watched. But then it began to shrink again, and soon disappeared behind the grey cloud that covered the entire sky. Those few minutes were the only time I saw the sun that entire day, as it remained overcast and later rained in the afternoon.
At first I was sad about the sunless day. But then I began to think how similar God’s own Son’s rising had been. Yes, the Son has risen. We have seen Him! He is here! His Kingdom is here! Who can deny that the Light has come? It’s no longer dark—as it had been dark at 3am, a few hours before. But on the other hand, it’s not what it’s going to be when someday God rolls away the clouds and we see Jesus in His fullness—the returning King come to set the world aright!
The Resurrection has begun. The New Age is upon us. Jesus began it, a few others in a cemetery in Jerusalem experienced it, but most of us are still living in hope and anticipation of the Resurrection to come. We are living in the in-between time, the time of walking by faith, the time when the Kingdom of God is more like an Impressionist painting than a photograph. The light has come, the glory of the LORD is upon us. The day IS dawning, and the Morning Star is rising in our hearts. It was a beautiful Easter Sunday, and every year Easter becomes more beautiful as the realization of what God has done grows in me.
posted by Peri Zahnd on April 10, 2009 at 10:06 AM
I can’t help remembering an episode of the reality TV show "I Shouldn’t Be Alive" I saw a couple of months ago.A man and a woman, beginning scuba divers, were left behind by their boat twenty miles out to sea.Swimming in the ocean and scuba diving freaks me out anyhow, not something I’m too keen on.It was a hopeless, scary situation.They prayed for rescue and just tried to hold on, but hours later, as night fell, it was apparent that nobody was going to come.They were hungry, thirsty, exhausted, and very, very afraid.They had to face a long dark night afloat in the ocean, fighting panic and exhaustion.They finally made the difficult decision to begin swimming in the direction of the land, knowing what a futile effort it was, and that their movement would create an attraction for sharks.
My stomach was in knots as I watched, and yes, the sharks did find them.They watched the dorsal fins circling about them, only imagining the size of the bodies beneath the water.They felt them brush against their feet, screaming in panicked desperation—there was no one who could save them.Miraculously, the sharks did not attack, and when, hours later, the sky begin to turn light and the sun arose, there was a brief time of increased hopefulness, which was quickly dashed after an hour of hard swimming seemed to get them no closer to the distant shore.
Hours later, however, exhausted, the shore did draw close.They were elated again, until they realized that the shore was not a gentle sand beach they could land on, but jagged cliffs that the waves were crashing into.Their bodies would be broken into pieces if they approached.Wrenching despair and disappointment and great fear.....but SUDDENLY!!!
A BOAT appeared out of nowhere.Fishermen, who saw them, and pulled up beside them, and hoisted their exhausted bodies out of the water, as they were too depleted to help themselves at all.They wrapped blankets around them and laid them in the bottom of the boat, gave them bottles of fresh water.And the poor man and woman were overcome with laughter, emotion draining from their bodies, not knowing anything else to do, they laughed and laughed and laughed.
Immediately, I thought of Psalm 126:
"When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, It was like a dream!
We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy.
And the other nations said, 'What amazing things the Lord has done for them.’
Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!What joy!"
And today, I also think of the disciples on Good Friday.They were devastated.Their ideas about the Messiah, this great revolutionary who was going to restore the fortunes of Israel, were dashed on the rocks.They had sacrificed everything, and it was all in vain.They were probably going to die with him too.There was no way out.There was no one to save.Their Messiah had failed, or so they thought.
Just a few days later, their King would rise from the dead, and they would begin to understand that they really hadn’t understood anything at all!I imagine they laughed, just like the stranded scuba divers, just like the exiled Israelites, the laughter of their world being turned upside down, or more correctly, turned rightside up.Their Saviorhad done it!Their Messiah had conquered death and the grave.And the story never gets old, as we celebrate once again the Resurrection of the Son of God and the victory of the cross.Thank you Jesus!!!!
It was late Saturday afternoon when I started baking Philip’s birthday cake.I’d had a ton of things to do, was just finishing up a brief phone conversation with my mother in law, and mentioned that the next thing on my list was baking the cake.She laughed and said, "Don’t you just love being the mom!"And I said, emphatically, "YES!"I’m glad I’ve got a son to bake a cake for—he’s seventeen and a joy.
His is always a dark chocolate buttermilk sheet cake, one I’ve made over and over again, but this time, I messed up and didn’t cook the cocoa long enough in the butter before putting all the other ingredients in. It didn’t dissolve and I couldn’t beat it hard enough.I poured it in the pan, and realized most of the cocoa was congealed in the bottom.What to do?
The only possible fix was to pour it back in the mixing bowl, heat the whole thing up and beat it again.And wonder of wonders—it seemed to work!I poured it back in the pan, opened the over door, and spilled cake batter all over the inside of the oven window.That was a first too.The batter instantly began to cook on the hot glass.I scraped off what I could, put the cake inside the oven, and closed the door.In a few minutes the smell of burnt cake filled the kitchen.Hmmm....
But in twenty minutes I pulled the unburnt cake from the oven, knowing it was just the spilled batter that was burning.The cake looked allright, just a little thinner than normal.
Outside the freakish spring snowstorm was raging.I turned the oven on to the "clean" cycle, and thanked God for technology.I left the cake on top of the stove to cool.About 9:30 I decided to make the icing—it too is a cooked butter and cocoa icing.Everything went fine until I reached for the powdered sugar, and found an almost empty bag.I dumped it in, got out the beaters, and finally admitted what I had known--it wasn’t near enough.And I didn’t want to go to the store!
I looked out the window to make sure my neighbor Vickie’s lights were on, and called her.She checked and said she had only a wee bit of powdered sugar in her bag.I jumped in my car because of the storm, drove to her driveway, and she prayed, "Lord, multiply it," as she handed it over.
It was the thinnest frosting I’d ever tried to spread on a cake, but I poured it on the middle and let it spread itself, and then I used the remainder to fill in the edges.This cake wasn’t going to win any blue ribbons for appearance, but with family, it’s the thought that counts.
Now here’s the kicker!After church, we went out to lunch—Philip’s pick—BBQ.Brian mentioned to the waiter that Philip was the birthday boy, and none of us gave it a second thought.We didn’t expect the entire staff to come out at the end of the meal singing and clapping and carrying a humongous bowl of ice cream with chocolate sauce and whipped cream, which Philip plunged into, and everyone else did their part as well.
Afterwards, we went home, visited, opened presents, and the group soon disbursed.An hour after they’d left, I remembered I’d never served the cake!Oh brother!I’m still glad I’m the mom, and that I got to make my boy a cake.And so I had a piece.Despite all the tribulation that cake went through, it was still pretty good!
posted by Peri Zahnd on March 17, 2009 at 12:13 PM
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through the confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the Judgment Day.
I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.
I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of demons,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.
posted by Peri Zahnd on February 27, 2009 at 11:28 PM
The following quote is inscribed on the FDR Memorial in Washington DC.
I have seen war, I have seen war on land and on sea.
I have seen the blood running from the wounded.
I have seen the dead in the mud.
I have seen cities destroyed, I have seen children starving.
I have seen the agony of mothers and wives
I hate war.
The most violent and aggressive thing humans do is to wage war, and most wars are generally over the issue of who will rule, or possess the land. Jesus said "Blessed are the meek, the gentle, the humble, for it is THEY who will inherit the land."
posted by Peri Zahnd on February 24, 2009 at 10:04 AM
I love it when God makes His presence known to me in special ways—kisses from heaven. These kisses don’t come on a regular basis, and usually when I least expect them. But they are strong assurances that He is watching over me, He is a faithful God, well able to answer my prayers, and that to him, a day is really like a thousand years, and that He never needs to be in a hurry. They are reminders that to live the Kingdom life is like finding a pearl of great price, and that any sacrifice I have made pales in comparison to the good things He wants to pour into my life.
Well, I got kissed this week! And thinking about it makes me giddy, makes me want to laugh and throw my hat in the air—whoops, I’m not wearing a hat. What happened?? Did I win the Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes? No, nothing as crass as that, nothing that involves money or personal achievement or recognition—something way more important, way bigger.
I saw redemption. I saw restoration. I saw that some prayers I prayed a long, long time ago have not been forgotten. Nothing dramatic, there were no bells or major announcements. In fact, it was something that a lot of people wouldn’t even have noticed. Something that some might scoff at, say it was just a coincidence, say it was no big deal.
So why am I so deliriously happy over something that some people would think so insignificant? Because I saw the Lord!
There is a new song we’re singing in church, one our worship leader, Eric Stark wrote. It’s a happy song, a rejoicing song, called "The Living Tree." One of the verses goes like this:
Let’s live each day on God’s good earth
In the wonder of each new days birth
Let the sun shine hot upon your face
Be fully alive in God’s good grace
Be fully alive in God’s good grace.
Another verse encourages us to "come sing and dance with one hand free...." I love that, a nod to one of my favorite happy tunes, Dylan’s Tambourine Man,--"oh to dance beneath the diamond sky, with one hand waving free." That’s a description of the "good life" to me—God’s good life—living with wonder, having a dancing heart, fully alive in God’s good grace.
When we live in the joy and wonder of God’s good grace, aware of and rejoicing in the knowledge that He is present with us, an ever present help in times of trouble—when we allow the joy of the Lord to lift us and carry us through the struggles of life, we live in an expectation of good things. We refuse to live a heavy, burned out, cynical life, but instead fight the good fight of faith.
So, back to my kiss from heaven this week. I saw and acknowledged God Himself at work, and thought of the words of Jesus—"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall SEE the Lord." I saw the Lord at work in the lives of people I have prayed for. Some Bible translations even put the beatitudes this way: HAPPY are the pure in heart, for they shall see the Lord."
And I definitely prefer HAPPY and BLESSED over the alternative! It’s a fight to stay in this frame of mind, but it is a huge part of the good fight of faith that the Bible often talks about. I’m so glad I could acknowledge what I observed as GOD AT WORK, and not a mere coincidence, not cynically doubting whether these particular people would ever get their acts together, but believing for God to be at work, believing that He is constantly at work in the lives of the people He created, constantly drawing them back to Himself through a myriad of different ways.
posted by Peri Zahnd on January 23, 2009 at 4:58 PM
Brian and I have just returned from leading our 10th tour of Israel, and we both say it was the best yet.You’d think it would be boring by now, seeing the same old things time after time.How could it be the best yet?I’ve been asked this more than once the past few days, and have actually thought a lot about how to answer.
Perhaps it’s in our philosophical approach to life—refusing to live the jaded, cynical life so many in our culture have fallen prey to, (been there, done that) but instead delighting to live in the freshness of experiencing everything we possibly can to its fullness.Israel is not a tourist destination to us, so that we can mark individual sites off a checklist, but a pilgrimage, a spiritual encounter, a fulfillment of the longing to understand the world we live in, and to comprehend some of the mysteries of the Kingdom that God created to restore all things back to their original goodness.
We have been to Israel so many times now that we’re beginning to understand a tiny bit of the complexities of living in the Middle East.We have good friends among the Jewish people.I started and finished two books during this trip, primarily in airports and on airplanes, both about the Holocaust, a subject that I have read extensively about, and will continue to do so.It is impossible for me to fathom how this horrendous event has shaped the collective consciousness of the Jewish people.Much of the intense passion to once again have a land of their own, and to keep that land, was forged in the fires of the ovens of Auschwitz.It is impossible for me to know what it’s like to know that, in modern times, there have been and still are people who diabolically want to destroy you and your family simply because of your ethnicity.One morning, having breakfast in our hotel, I watched a young family at another table—abeautiful young woman, her husband, and four little children.The boy was perhaps eight years old, and had three lively little sisters, all with beautiful long dark hair.They were Jewish.I watched them and felt tears well up in my eyes when I realized there were many young families just like them who perished in European death camps 65 years ago.
And I’ve become more aware in the last couple of years of the sad plight of Arab Christians living in the Middle East.Many people think that all Arabs are Muslim, which is absolutely not true.There has always been a historic Arab church in the Middle East—predominantly Orthodox—Greeks, Syrians, Armenian, and Coptic Egyptians.The nation of Lebanon has always had a majority population of Christians—more people identifying themselves as Christian than Muslim or Jew.Always, that is, until the last decade or so, when increasingly hostile persecution has forced them to flee the land in huge numbers.
On this trip, we met many Arab Christians and interacted with them.We met a couple who pastor a church in Northern Israel, near the Lebanese border, whose church is comprised of Lebanese refugees.We met pastors from Bethlehem, where the previously majority Christian population has also been driven away.Previously the Muslims and Christians there lived together peaceably, but no longer.We met and talked to Christian business people, some selling souvenirs to tourists, and one man who had just opened a coffee shop—the best coffee we had in Israel!We met a Christian family in another Palestinean controlled city whose previously prosperous business has suffered incredibly, simply because they are Christians.These Arab Christians desperately need the help of their brothers and sisters around the world.They need encouragement, love, and support.We would very much like to return to Israel soon, not leading a tour, but instead a trip spent ministering to Arab Christians.
And, of course, we were very aware of the heart-breaking events going on in Gaza.Jewish Israelis expressed sadness about the war—but still say it had to be done.When we were in Israel in 2006, we visited Gaza, something very few Americans can say they’ve done!We had to send photocopies of our passports two weeks ahead of time to get government clearance, and even then, knew we could be turned away when we tried to go in.It is against the law for Israeli citizens to visit Gaza, and it is impossible for most of the inhabitants of Gaza to ever leave.It IS a prison, a maximum security prison, and entering into Gaza is no less daunting than entering a maximum security prison in America.
While we were there, we met and had lunch with a Muslim man who we love and pray for frequently.He is a highly educated professional, who is no longer working in the field he was trained in, but instead has started an NGO dedicated to teaching peace to the Muslim people.He loves peace, and he is a seeker of truth, but has only seen in his life a fleeting glimpse of Christianity.Our prayer is that he will come to find Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Since the war in Gaza began, his Christian friends in Israel have had minimal contact, and the last time they spoke with him, he was hiding in his house with his wife and four children.They were very afraid.Since then, cell phones have been disabled, as well as internet.We know nothing about their well-being, and I am continuing to pray for this dear family.
When we were in Gaza in 2006, more than anything, it was a sense of hopelessness that prevailed.Families living there had no hope for a better life, struggling with massive unemployment, the most crowded living conditions on Earth, and constant fear of violence.Their captivity and separation from the rest of the world breeds further unrest and violence, just like the prisons of our country.The plight of the Palestinians is as sad a situation as I know.And the only answer for them is the Kingdom of God coming to Earth in a greater way.
And so, on this trip to Israel, I felt a kinship, a brotherhood, with the people of that land—the Jews, the Arab Christians, and the Palestineans.I love and pray for them all.And I see, more clearly than ever, that the only hope for the Middle East is the Kingdom of God, and the Church of Jesus Christ.
I'm going to try to get some pictures up from our trip.....bear with me!
