austraLasia #2680
Kinderchef!
MELBOURNE: 27 July 2010 -- Once again a hiatus of a week in service. Sorry folks! From time to time I find myself in places where sending off large batches of emails is simply impossible and that was the case this week past, amid dozing crocodiles and other pursuits of an 'outback' kind that do not permit much internet activity. And whenever there is a gap like this, those who provide the news also take a break - or so it seems! After all, all I do is tidy up (or ruin) what you send along. So, time to pull out the pen again, or thump the keyboard, and get some news items to me from around the Region. Otherwise the hiatus will continue...
In the meantime, let me offer a personal view of an interesting phenomenon that has taken place in one part of the Region, and which happens to involve youth in a big way, surprisingly so when you hear what it is that is involving them.
My grand nephew is just 8 years old and is already turning out to be an excellent chef. What has inspired him (apart from his mother)? A TV Reality Show that came to its grand finale in Australia on 26 July called Masterchef. That evening, the one and only TV debate between the two contenders for Australian political leadership in the forthcoming national elections, had to be moved to another slot! The nearly 5 million people who watched Masterchef, close on one quarter of the entire population, preferred the prime-time 7.30 pm slot for the Masterchef finals, which were being contested by two relatively youthful male amateurs on this occasion, Adam a 31 year old lawyer, Australian born, but who had been living and working in Japan up until he decided to 'have a go' at Masterchef, and Callum, a 20 year old from just north of Adelaide in South Australia, who simply likes cooking. At 31, Adam already has a bit of life behind him. At 20, Callum could have been called 'wet behind the ears' but not once he put his mind, heart and hands to a 'Guava snow-egg' dessert. In the end, Adam won, but you could hardly say Callum lost. He won the sympathy of the nation for his youth, freshness, delightful positivity about everything, including losing - and a 'consolation' prize scholarship with one of Australia's top chefs.
Why tell you all this? I had a chance to watch the finals, the elimination trials for a whole week which whittled the number down to the two finalists. I saw many a lesson here that could make us reflect on Youth Ministry probably far more than a dozen 'models' and heavy treatises could ever do. Maybe we need a 'cookbook' for Youth Ministry!
What attracts 5 million viewers in a population of 22 million, including much of the nation's youth, to watch a cooking show? We learned something here about the importance of good guidance and leadership - I am referring to the three judges. They weren't loud, 'in your face'. They were shepherds with an authentic cajoling, warm style. When someone failed they embraced them and 'sent them home' but with a list of all they had achieved and a list of alternative steps for them to pursue their chosen future. Win or lose they lavished praise. And everything about the competition, judges and competitors, engaged the community. It was competition with a soft, sometimes crumbly, edge.
In a volatile and difficult world, Masterchef showed how common rituals can be redeemed and made beautiful; indeed how common rituals become a rewarding, unifying activity. Makes you realise, from a less theological angle, why Jesus chose Eucharist as his way of holding us together. Masterchef worked, in my view (or better, it worked for me, over a week, contemplating family and friends) because it called on and demonstrated real human values in action like family, honesty, openness, along with constructive criticism - and it did more for my grand nephew than a dozen homilies would ever do for an eight year old! If there was a Kinderchef competition, he might even win it.
Click here to comment on this item, or here to assist with Glossary. You will need to enter 20eao02 when asked for a password.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2009 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
Kinderchef!
MELBOURNE: 27 July 2010 -- Once again a hiatus of a week in service. Sorry folks! From time to time I find myself in places where sending off large batches of emails is simply impossible and that was the case this week past, amid dozing crocodiles and other pursuits of an 'outback' kind that do not permit much internet activity. And whenever there is a gap like this, those who provide the news also take a break - or so it seems! After all, all I do is tidy up (or ruin) what you send along. So, time to pull out the pen again, or thump the keyboard, and get some news items to me from around the Region. Otherwise the hiatus will continue...
In the meantime, let me offer a personal view of an interesting phenomenon that has taken place in one part of the Region, and which happens to involve youth in a big way, surprisingly so when you hear what it is that is involving them.
My grand nephew is just 8 years old and is already turning out to be an excellent chef. What has inspired him (apart from his mother)? A TV Reality Show that came to its grand finale in Australia on 26 July called Masterchef. That evening, the one and only TV debate between the two contenders for Australian political leadership in the forthcoming national elections, had to be moved to another slot! The nearly 5 million people who watched Masterchef, close on one quarter of the entire population, preferred the prime-time 7.30 pm slot for the Masterchef finals, which were being contested by two relatively youthful male amateurs on this occasion, Adam a 31 year old lawyer, Australian born, but who had been living and working in Japan up until he decided to 'have a go' at Masterchef, and Callum, a 20 year old from just north of Adelaide in South Australia, who simply likes cooking. At 31, Adam already has a bit of life behind him. At 20, Callum could have been called 'wet behind the ears' but not once he put his mind, heart and hands to a 'Guava snow-egg' dessert. In the end, Adam won, but you could hardly say Callum lost. He won the sympathy of the nation for his youth, freshness, delightful positivity about everything, including losing - and a 'consolation' prize scholarship with one of Australia's top chefs.
Why tell you all this? I had a chance to watch the finals, the elimination trials for a whole week which whittled the number down to the two finalists. I saw many a lesson here that could make us reflect on Youth Ministry probably far more than a dozen 'models' and heavy treatises could ever do. Maybe we need a 'cookbook' for Youth Ministry!
What attracts 5 million viewers in a population of 22 million, including much of the nation's youth, to watch a cooking show? We learned something here about the importance of good guidance and leadership - I am referring to the three judges. They weren't loud, 'in your face'. They were shepherds with an authentic cajoling, warm style. When someone failed they embraced them and 'sent them home' but with a list of all they had achieved and a list of alternative steps for them to pursue their chosen future. Win or lose they lavished praise. And everything about the competition, judges and competitors, engaged the community. It was competition with a soft, sometimes crumbly, edge.
In a volatile and difficult world, Masterchef showed how common rituals can be redeemed and made beautiful; indeed how common rituals become a rewarding, unifying activity. Makes you realise, from a less theological angle, why Jesus chose Eucharist as his way of holding us together. Masterchef worked, in my view (or better, it worked for me, over a week, contemplating family and friends) because it called on and demonstrated real human values in action like family, honesty, openness, along with constructive criticism - and it did more for my grand nephew than a dozen homilies would ever do for an eight year old! If there was a Kinderchef competition, he might even win it.
Click here to comment on this item, or here to assist with Glossary. You will need to enter 20eao02 when asked for a password.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2009 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
