"JEDI" an old favourite!!

   Some storytellers like to start their story in the middle. "Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope" is a defining example of this from George Lucas. It was a timeless tale, an old fashioned western set in a galaxy far away. Through 'the force' and a classic battle between good and evil, Lucas set out in part to explore a faith that would embrace all and offend none.The Sith and the Jedi are engaged in a battle for hearts, minds and power with the unfolding story of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. All the links are there, they just didn't all make sense first time around. I love how the technology didn't exist to do some things and even 'Industrial Light & Magic' had to wait for the remastered versions to have some animals move, to animate Jabba the Hut and sadly to edit out the Stormtrooper who bangs his head in a doorway from Ep IV.
   Be that as it may, like Star Wars itself, my JEDI t-shirt has other layers of meaning. My friends and I have joked for many years that in the battle for the legitimacy of ministry with young people as Youth Workers [and yes I prefer that to Youth Pastor or Youth Minister, but that's a rant for another time] to be ordained a Minister of the Word was to 'turn to the darkside'... then in all seriousness, whether some acknowledge it or not, one path to legitimacy has been to say something different about the nature of same and to invite Youth Workers to explore their call in this way [church speak sorry]. But only Youth Workers could live with the idea that volunteers, lay leaders and ordained folks all have a place... none is junior, waiting to head into 'real' ministry.
   This t-shirt reminds me of mentors and pioneers I know, it reminds me of 25+ years of growing and using my gifts and abilities in doing stuff I love to do and feel 'called' to give time and energy to. Despite the pain, weariness, prophetic push back and disappointments along the way.
   All ministry is at it's heart relational and each of us would do well to focus on the things that give us energy and to collaborate, be honest and seek to "make space for the leadership of others, through serving." In a lighthearted way, that's always seemed to me to be a Jedi kind of thing. I'm no guru and while I can be stubborn and assertive in my own way, nothing is more exciting than seeing someone else do stuff they are good at because at least in some small way you've worked to see that as possible...
   To be fair I'm most stubborn when I'm in modelling or experimenting mode, trying to show by doing that things like: inclusion; different imaging of God; use of many mediums; experiments; listening; learning to think for yourself and engage the wisdom of others and life in your search; and a focus on what the recipient/participant or learner is experiencing/receiving or being taught [to name just a few things].
   I don't believe that the way I learnt about being in a community of faith, what it means to be a follower of Jesus, or how I encountered the story is the best way it'll happen for young people today [but lots of people don't seem to 'get that']. When he talks/writes about relating together as people and seeking to discover who Jesus is in our midst [and words to that effect] Andy Root has helped me to begin to articulate ideas about that I've had since my 20s. If we are the people we've encountered, the stories we've heard and the choices we've made, then this is of huge importance!! This is the stuff youth ministry is about, not the froth of slogans, banners, pick n choose social justice symbolism, single verse theology, best practice, excellence, or clever stuff that'll stick... That's why it's so hard and I still have lots to learn. We need diverse talents and approaches, we have different ways people explore and share their story... I just get sick of having to justify, against the flow...
   My JEDI t-shirt reminds me it's not 'playing' but is about a story with depth, individuality and at the end of the day it's also fun... besides, having turned 'to the darkside' shouldn't it be the iSith one that's available on redbubble?
 
 
 
 
 

"The Cassette Tape" from Redbubble

  

   Whether it's a mixtape, recordings of Monty Python or a bands new album, this was the music buying technology of my formative years. You'll see those memes on Facebook suggesting you're old if you know what these and a HB pencil have in common... when the cassette lost tension or struggled you would insert a bevel edged pencil or biro into the left or right wheel and turn it to run the thin brown magnetic tape from one reel to the other. These were revolutionary compared to the old reel to reel deck on which Dad played endless recordings of Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass.

   ABBA's 'Arrival' was one of my first bought cassettes but I had been taping TV shows through the audio aux plug for ages. We often sat in a corridor listening to Monty Python to escape school for a lunch break. I also had a lot of tapes of 'Hogan's Heroes' at one stage. By the time I bought Adman's ghetto blaster off him it was all about the music. I first heard Midnight Oil's 10,9,8... on cassette on an early SONY Walkman. Later came the cassette you inserted into your car stereo to play an external audio source in the car!!

   This t-shirt connects me with a bygone era and is about my youth and music but interestingly the conversations I have are not with young people asking me what it is, rather they are older folks speculating whether young people do ask... and yes, I did make a few mix tapes for a few girls over the years...

   One recording I would like to hear again and convert [but no longer have a functioning player for myself] is my competition winning [3-4] question sports star interview taped for ABC 1233 Local Radio in Newcastle in 1994. I spent an afternoon in the studio chatting with former World Cup winning Wallaby Skipper and halfback, Nick Farr Jones, from his law firm offices in Sydney. Craig Hamilton liked the questions someone else wanted to ask Michael Jordan then suddenly realised it might not be possible to arrange so my questions were chosen!!

   

"Roy & HG" This Sporting Life

   I enjoy the comedic work of 'Rampaging Roy Slaven' and 'HG Nelson' aka John Doyle and Greg Pickhaver right from their stint as silhouettes with Andrew Denton on TV and their early 2JJ 'Festival of the Boot' ghost calls of the Rugby League Grand Final. One year I was able with assistance to record the radio commentary with the TV vision to watch the rerun with Roy & HG having being distracted by friends at the party. For some they will recognise the chat show analysis and highlights from 'The Dream' alongside the Sydney Olympics which is part of pop culture history!!

Testament to their influence is the way their comedy has become part of our everyday fun speech...
   Origin league players are known as 'The Brick with Eyes', 'Back Door Benny' or my favourite is Alan Langer as 'Deborah Kerr.' Yes that's right, from playing alongside Wally Lewis you get 'the King and I' starring Yul Brynner and ... that's right, Deborah Kerr!! Then there's the 'battered sav', the 'hello boys'... from Olympic gymnastics.

  I love my sport and so have been subjected to all kinds of commentary for years. Roy & HG struck a rich vein of comedy through the absolute commitment to your view, until you change it... they would praise a player as a world beater until the match tide turned or one small incident and then mercilessly change their rhetoric and be just as passionate with a conflicting view... amplifying what we all hear in any sports match!!

   Add to that Roy's own sparkling career for Orange CYMS, his racing pedigree or HG's expert opinion or spin on a story lifted directly from the Daily Telegraph newspaper [ouch, I've heard plenty of serious sports casters using that authoritative source...].

   This t-shirt has long been part of my collection, bought from the ABC Shop in Sydney's QVB but signed many years on when HG was launching his post Olympics book and we chatted about the Rabbitohs and the Rugby!!

   I spent many a lazy afternoon tuning in [and there was a time people would rive places so as to be able to listen to Roy & HG] as Roy in particular asked callers how they'd put in the afternoon. Uni studies, banana cake icing, plumbing tips or light reading were no struggle for the well read, sharp and ironic humour of John Doyle as he easily slipped from topic to topic no matter what the caller had been up to.

POSTSCRIPT
   It seems Roy & HG have just signed with Oz network TEN to do a show as part of their Socchi Winter Olympic coverage... suddenly I have 'some' interest in them... no wonder it's being announced now as TEN, so enthusiastic about their coverage, were just about the last resort, bargain network. Nobody really wanted to have to do it!!        
   I look fwd to the sporting great 'Rampaging' Roy Slaven [coached by 'Grassy' Grannell] interviewing 'Chumpy' Pullin... gotta love a #nickname