Hagar fled. But the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness on the road to Shur. And He said, “Hagar, Sarah’s maid, where did you come from, and where are you intending to go?” And Hagar said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarah.” The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress and humbly submit to her control.” And Hagar gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16, Adapted (Note 1)

Hagar, Sarah’s servant, had been thrust into an untenable situation and wanted to disappear. She was pregnant with Abraham’s son, an unwitting part in a flawed human plan. In her effort to escape ill treatment Hagar ran away. But God saw her.

The traditional Zulu greeting of “sawubona” means “I see you”, and is understood as respecting and acknowledging the other person’s worth and dignity. This evokes the sentiment expressed by Hagar when God spoke to her in the wilderness.

Sawubona. God sees you. I see you.

P: “Angel of the Lord” is generally believed to be the pre-incarnate Christ. It may also have been an Angel of God. In either case, sawubona.