"Do you see this woman?"

   The title question is just one of many penetrating questions Jesus asks in the gospels.  He is speaking to a prominent religious leader about a nameless woman who has caused a stir at a dinner party with her mixture of tears and perfume.  The religious leader sees the woman as an immoral interruption, but Jesus sees her as a human being, penitent and eager for a new life.  (See Luke 7:36 and following.)
   I was challenged by this story as it was presented by a friend at a Bible study based on Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs.  How often do I see my husband or my own children as an interruption when I'm in the middle of editing a paper, preparing dinner or checking my email?  I need to really see them, not just carry on with what I was doing.  They deserve much more acknowledgement than I have been giving them lately.
   I will turn off the screen or set down the potato peeler and look into their eyes.  Like Jesus, I want to value them above my agenda items.  So help me God.