The Yoke: Part 2

We've made it to the fifth and final installment of this starter series for Terroir.

Thanks for hanging in there with me.

What I want to do here is share with you some more specifics of this yoke with you, this particular way I have in mind of being totally committed to you, journeying with you, and coming alongside you. But I want to start with something so fundamental will seem almost childlike.

Once upon a time...

(ill. cred. Kaelyn Joy Loverin)

Familiar words, I know, but they are sacred words. They strike a chord in us all. The most basic thing to recognize, the most elemental aspect of the yoke, is that we're all in a story. We are formed by story, from the time we're small right up until now. We 'story' ourselves, and the elements of story (setting, character, plot, conflict, etc.) give content, shape, meaning to our lives. Flashbacks! to middle school Language Arts class. Sorry about that.

I have so much to say about this, but it'll have to wait for another time.

Where was I? Of course. The first element of the yoke is the fact that we are formed by stories (multiple stories, usually). These could be our family history and personal background or biography. Or, they could be our country or culture of origin, which shape our identity in fundamental ways. It could be our ethnicity, social status, or or economic life growing up that causes us to look at the world differently than others. It could be our faith background (or lack thereof) or identification with a particular job or trade or even sexual orientation - whatever the case, the undeniable fact is that we are story-shaped people.

Following on that, people who share stories have certain interpretations about the way the world is. Around these interpretations and beliefs, people build like-minded communities. Think of a church, a political party, a nation (U.S.A.! U.S.A.!), Philadelphia Eagles fans, or everyone you have ever known who identifies as a Texan. The point is, people who share similar stories form communities around those stories, and communities, in turn, provide safety and structure for their members; they mutually reinforce one another.

Next, and taking it a step further, those communities (shaped by a common stories) have identifiable character traits that define how to be a good person in the context of that community. So, one community's virtues will look different than another community's virtues. To put it another way, it's pretty rare that someone from Texas will be a Philadelphia Eagles fan. Just like in classical Greece, what made a good citizen (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance) a good person in the city-state, what makes a good person today is defined by the boundaries and virtues expected in community.

Last, all of these communities, shaped by shared stories and held together by a shared sense of virtue, have sets of practices to be pursued by their members in order to extend the standards of excellence that hold a sense of community identity together. Practices are the things we do on a regular basis as humans: how we move through our environment, how we eat, how we live together and make more little humans, and how we make sense of what it means to be in time and space.

So there you have it. Story. Community. Virtues. Practices. Simple enough, right?

All of this leads to a shared human pursuit of the best possible way to live. It's beauty, goodness, and truth, served up in and through the stories we tell with our lives, the communities we're a part of, the virtues and practices we try to emulate and teach our kids.

Now for full disclosure: I come from a fundamentalist background. The fundamentalist says that there is only one correct way to pursue the good life. To put an even finer point on it, that your pursuit of the good life has to look like mine. But I want to be clear: the yoke I'm talking about here (my commitment to your terroir) does not require this. Instead, and recognizing that we come from a variety of backgrounds, it's an invitation for you and I to pursue the best possible way to live, together. To see if it works. I'm betting that it will.

Because like we talked about last time, beauty, goodness, and truth are human transcendentals. They point us beyond ourselves and unite us in a common experience. Which is a far cry from saying my way the only right way.

So the yoke is not, and could never be, something that is forced upon you. It has to be your choice to say, "This sounds like someone I'd like to go on journey with." There's an attractiveness, an appeal, a winsomeness that makes you say, "I think I'll check this out."

The yoke is about bringing all of this to you, bringing my genuine self, and being all-in on you, so that you can live most faithfully to whatever story is most essential to who you are. So that your character strengthens the communities you are a part of. So that your daily practices and rituals embody human excellence and hold your life together like brick and mortar.

When all this is dialed in, you will find yourself on the path toward the best possible way to live. It will transform every aspect of your life:

Physical health and fitness.

Emotional health and relationships.

Career and life decision-making.

Art and creativity.

Marriage and parenting.

Self-understanding and personal growth.

The difference I'm offering is being all-in on you. Cultivating your terroir through our relationship and connection in any one or all of these areas.

If you're at the end of this five-part series, thanks so much for reading. From my heart, I truly appreciate the time you've taking out of your life to hear these thoughts I'm sharing with you.

If what I'm saying resonates with you, would you be open to sharing it with a friend or two? This is something new for me, putting this out there in the world.

It feels a bit vulnerable.

But if you would share one of these five posts from the week, whichever one you liked best, or whichever you think might benefit that friend of yours, I'd be so grateful. Go on and smash that Share button!

Coming back to the Farm and the Factory for a minute. There will always be factories, and we'll always need them. But as humans, we also need connection, need terroir. We need to be on the journey with others.

Higher education has meant the world to me, and for 25 years it's been part of my vision/vocation for my life. But it's not for everyone, especially in these changing times when the future seems so uncertain. What I hope to do through Terroir is to expand my influence beyond the the classroom, beyond the four walls of the university. To become a university without walls. Because the reality is that some people (the vast majority of people) will never be in my classroom. I want to bring the best of who I am, my terroir, my yoke, to all of these connections and beyond.

If you share this series with someone, you help me expand that influence, and together we multiply and deepen those connections.

If you allow me to come alongside you directly, then you help my influence grow exponentially, because our connection will influence everyone who's connected to your life.

Just as if you had been in my classroom.

Thanks again so much for listening. I'm here for you, here to help, ready to go there, together. We're only just getting started.

In difficult, uncertain times, I'm excited for whatever comes next. I hope you are, too.

Grace and peace,

Mat

April 2020