Covenanting

I've been thinking about covenants lately.

 Ket and I had to put together a covenant for our unit - it's full of fun and thoughtful things, full of details of how we are going to try to live together, an attempt to clarify what we are trying to build together so that we have something to which we hold ourselves accountable, a goal for how to care for each other during this, etc - and this morning I signed the covenant at Rochester Area Mennonite Fellowship.

Each covenant is unique, and I guess they are upheld in unique ways, but the act of promising to each other is not a new one. Our scripture in church this morning came from the book of Joshua - of Israel's covenant to follow and serve the God of their ancestors after they have entered into the promised land. There are earlier references of covenants too.

I think the act of covenanting with some - of intentionally making clear expectations, guidelines, and even dreams for living, being, and caring together - is beautiful. i love dreaming out how to live intentionally with others - its why I'm with mvs in Rochester, it's why I lived with "granola united," "the pit of awesomeness," the WCSC program, why I love the J-team so much, why I go to Tuesday night potlucks, why an afternoon spent in someone else's living room can feel like I'm at home, etc. I'm not sure how well I do at living out the covenants, but I love dreaming them up and praying that we will support and love each other.

Lately I've also been thinking about how we build this act of covenanting into other, more 'secular' and every day relationships. What type of covenants do we sign with co-workers? friends? fellow Rochestarians on the bus? are there not a million covenants we adhere to every day, some voluntary and others not, some explicit and others not, that dictate our interactions and define how we build society together? I guess that's what Locke was getting to in the "social contract" theory...... No wonder why I'm so attracted to this idea of covenants.