Our Friend Zo the Redeemer

Zo the Redeemer

Zo met with us today.  That he met with us is not unusual, he tries to meet with us on a regular basis, as we try to do the same with him.  We have come to love meetings with Zo.

Let me introduce Zo.  Zo is an old friend of ours, I’m not sure when I met Him, but I know he knew me first...like an old family friend that can remember you growing up, that’s Zo.  He has memories of knowing you before you have memories of knowing him.

Zo, well, he’s a quiet man.  In that regard, he reminds me of my grandfather.  A man who seldom spoke, yet when he did, he spoke volumes.  That’s Zo.  When Zo speaks, he just seems to have something worth hearing.  Something so simple it’s profound.  Words full of life.  Zo says things that, at the time, might not seem like much, but as you ponder his words, they grow into life change of some sorts.

Zo has gray hair.  It’s that old man gray hair.  The gray hair that says “I’ve lived & learned a lot.  I know a lot about life and how it works.  I know things you don’t yet know.”  That hair.  Not only does he have gray hair, his hair is thick and it’s longer than most at his age.  In the wind, his hair lifts as one big piece of gray, like a wing of a dove being lifted by the wind.  His hair is past his shoulders in the back and sometimes he keeps it in a pony tail.  He needs a haircut, but I can’t imagine Zo with anything other than long flowing gray hair.  Anything less wouldn’t seem right on the guy. 

Zo’s face looks really old.  His face is tanned and full of wrinkles.  Deep trenched wrinkles.  The kind of wrinkles that have many stories of having lived life the hard way.  His tan, looks like it never fades.  It’s deep into his skin.  His eyes, that’s the part of him that I like looking at the best.  His eyes speak without him saying a word.  His eyes are full of love and compassion.  They are full of life, even though the face they are set in, says life has been long and hard.  Those same eyes seem to see right through you as well.  You know, those looks you got when growing up, that just let you know that they knew you weren’t being truthful.  Zo’s eyes seem to pull the truth right out of you, just by looking at you.  It’s like he can see right into your heart.

Zo’s hands are calloused and quite rough.  Zo says that’s from “helping lift people up from life’s pits.”  I don’t know exactly if that’s really how he got all those callouses, but suffice it to say, that Zo has definitely lifted a few people out from life’s pit.  Picking people up seems to be one of Zo’s favorite things to do.  Zo calls that, “redemption”.  

He says redemption means to help people believe in themselves again.  To help them believe they are still worth something.  Once you meet Zo, you’ll know, that no matter what your pit is about, you’re worth something to him.  You’ll see it in his eyes, feel it in his hands and hear it in his voice.

Zo says it doesn’t matter how you get knocked into the pit, he sees all people the same.  If they are in the pit, they need help getting out.  Zo figures that’s part of why he’s on the earth, to help people get out of their pit.

That’s Zo.  The redeemer.

People that know him, love him.  People that don’t, don’t fully understand him.

That’s who we met with today.  We, being me and my wife Shawn.

Our meetings are somewhat planned, yet sometimes Zo just shows up.  It seems Zo has a knack for knowing when to show up.

Like a few years ago, Zo showed up.  I’m not sure if he even knocked that day.  That day, I do know, we didn’t have a time set to talk with Zo.  We didn’t really think we wanted to meet with anyone that day.  It was a bad day.

Bad, because we were trying to figure out how to sift through the mess I had made in our marriage.  


Honestly, we weren’t even sure we wanted to or would be able to sift through it all.  There was a lot to sift through and the pile seemed daunting at best.  Overwhelming in fact.

Hurt.  Angry.  Unsure.  Lonely.  Broken.  

That’s how that day felt.

So, that day, we weren’t ready to meet with anyone.

Tears.  Silence.  Isolation.  Confusion.

Then, right there, when it seemed to be the worst possible timing, Zo showed up.

At first, He just came in and sat across from us without saying a word.  His presence seemed to be enough.  And, strangely enough, his silence was exactly what we needed at first.  

Calm.  Serene.  Peace.  Hope.  Love.

That’s what Zo brought that day.

He began to speak to us both about things like: life, love, joy, grace, each other - together.

Zo somehow helped us believe again that day.

Zo helped us believe, that in spite of the mess that needed to be sifted through, no matter how bad it was, we could get through it.  We could redeem it.  “If we wanted to,” Zo said.  Crazy thing is, Zo said he’d help us.  He was true to his word.  He met with us over & over.  Sometimes planned and sometimes not.

He would let us cry and sometimes he’d cry with us too.

He would remind us of how good our love was and how good it could be again.

He would make us smile and sometimes we’d laugh as he told some story that painted the picture of a better tomorrow.

Every time we met with Zo, something seemed to be put back together or something new came to life.

We were learning all about that redemption thing Zo was teaching us about.

Then one day, we realized it had happened.  Our life together, our love for each other, our marriage had been redeemed from the sifting pile.  Our marriage had been redeemed from the pit.

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, we had been given new life.

Zo still comes around, like he did today.  Sometimes, he still sits quietly and sometimes he speaks.

Now, we know what his calloused hands really feel like.  For Zo reached down into one of life’s pits and pulled us out.

Now, when we see his eyes, we know they are full of life and love.

Now, when Zo speaks, we know his words are life giving and can help make sense in life and life’s pits.

Zo, our friend, is a redeemer, and that’s what he does - redeems.  Buys back.  Adds value.  Dispenses hope.

Zo, the redeemer, because that’s what he does, redeems.

Thanks Zo.

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peace

b