[in spite of being a foreigner and a nobody, in spite of being both the agent and the victim of a moral mess, in spite of not being the mother of the chosen one, hagar is one of the few people in the bible to be able to say, "i have seen god!"]

when we are enslaved in a foreign country
you are the god who sees

when we are the victims of domestic strife
you are the god who sees

when we give birth to disputed children
you are the god who sees

when we are thrown out of our homes
you are the god who sees

when we mock other people's sorrows
you are the god who sees

when our familes reject us
you are the god who sees

when we cannot provide for ourselves
you are the god who sees

when we despair of life itself
you are the god who sees

so may the god who sees hagar and ishmael
the god who sees outsiders and mistakes
the god who sees the ones who are not chosen
watch over us and provide for us
through our wanderings, exiles and errors
this lent and always

amen