My covenant – בְּרִיתִי – Briti
I also established My covenant with them (Exodus 6:4)

Most people associate this word with that 8th day ritual.  Sometimes it involves bagels and cream cheese, but always involved the cutting of a foreskin. Bris. The full name of the ritual – spoken in Sephardic and not Ashkenazi Hebrew – is Brit Milah … the covenant of circumcision. And there it is, even at our very beginnings we — are reminded of the idea of covenant – Brit.

Covenant – בְּרִית – Brit is agreement with more depth. Covenant – בְּרִית – Brit is contract with more gravitas. Covenant – בְּרִית – Brit is citizenship with a nod to the grandeur of the social contract. Covenant – בְּרִית – Brit is relationship with sacred acknowledgment to the profound inter-connectivity of all human beings.

I think this word grabbed me as we all struggle to (still) understand how to live in a pandemic. The donning of a mask is an embrace of a Covenant – בְּרִית – Brit. Unless the mask is a K95, wearing a mask provides more protection for those around is that is does for ourselves. It is a physical manifestation of Covenant – בְּרִית – Brit … the participation in a sacred, bigger-than-myself kind of relationship. It feels to me like the kind of way I want to engage in all my encounters and relationships … with an acknowledgment that they are a part of a bigger web whose well-being is impacted by little old me. If only remembering that aspect of my relationships were only as easy as putting a mask over my nose and mouth.

Even in the midst of this terrible pandemic, I am thankful for this opportunity to participate in the Brit – Covenant in this way … and the way it might remind me to realize the fullness of Brit – Covenant in every relationship.