These last few weeks have, for many, included Advent and World Cup Football (Soccer). I am among those who have been keeping track of the tournament, even watching some games. I am also among those who mark and observe the season of Advent, the time of year on the Christian calendar that is a waiting and preparation for the celebration of Christmas and a consideration of God’s provision and sovereignty in the fullness of time.
Some words from the Christmas story have, in reflection and prayer for me, brought together these two December 2022 things.
“And there were shepherds…”
(Luke chapter 1)
The birth announcements from the angel Gabriel were not exactly to people of power and stature. A young woman, Mary; a young tradesman, an old depressed priest (that’s a different birth announcement), and now some shepherds outside of the village in the fields, in the dark. This is where and to whom God sends an angelic choir. There is no cathedral. The shepherds wear what shepherds wear, not clerical robes. Nothing in religious culture or society as a whole thinks, then or now, that shepherds would be the people to receive world changing news, but there we have it.
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace”, sings the heavenly choir.
I have been to Kathmandu only once. It’s quite the place. When we were in Nepal, particularly in Pokhara, I noticed the many gates and bars some people had put up around their houses. Many of these were ornately decorated with the logos of English Football (soccer) teams. Nepal exports labour. Young men are hired as mercenaries in other countries. Young men are hired for foreign labour projects, like, for example, building stadiums for the World Cup.
You tend to remember airports. Kathmandu’s airport is not memorable for artistry, opulence or scale. I remember it feeling kind of like a bus station. I do remember it though, so when I watched the Netflix documentary FIFA Uncovered on the recommendation of a friend, I was taken aback when I saw that space in the airport, the same space that my traveling companions and I, and almost all other visitors, had walked through. In the documentary, there is a woman waiting outside of the airport, but as she is shown, the narration tells us that what should be a happy day of reunion is a day of sorrow for the woman. Next we see a box being wheeled through the airport on a dolly. It is as basic as it gets. In the box is the body of the woman’s husband. He is among the thousands of migrant workers, many from Nepal, who died in terrible working conditions building the stadiums and infrastructure for the Qatar World Cup.
The documentary makes it clear that FIFA is, at best, a corrupt organization, at worst, a criminal enterprise. The lives of those on the executive committee have largely been lives of opulence, owing to their place of power in FIFA. There are lots of photos of committee members with world leaders, celebrities, the most powerful people in the world. The meetings and “congresses” and gatherings of the so-called leaders are extravagant. These are the kinds of people who have made sure to find their way to the sides of other powerful people. They smile the smile of having made it in life. These are, so we are told, or so they tell themselves, the kind of people who matter in the world, the kind of people who make announcements and are first to hear announcements of staggering implication and importance. Would you like to be like them?
“And there were shepherds …”
“And there were migrant workers…”
Just a few days ago, another migrant worker died while working at a World Cup venue. In this case, it was a Saudi training site. When the Qatari Chief of World Cup was asked about this, particularly in light of all the migrant worker deaths, he responded that the question itself was a distraction. He said that he wanted to take questions about football (soccer) not about these things. “Death is a part of life,” was what he actually said. He might as well have said, “I don’t give a shit about that worker,” but I suppose profanity might be considered immoral.
I am confident that the love of God extends to Sepp Blatter (FIFA President during decades of corruption) and to current FIFA President Gianni (“Today I feel gay…”) Infantino, but I am confident as well that they would not be found out in the fields outside the city at night. They wouldn’t be in such places, like the old cricket stadium in which migrant workers, still in Qatar, can watch matches (actual tickets are way too rich for their blood) on a screen. If you have seen those images, look at the dusty ground on which the migrant workers sit. Then look at the chairs in which Infantino and other important people running the show sit during the games, in the stadiums built by the migrant workers.
“And there were shepherds keeping watch in the fields (and there were migrant workers, trying to find relief from the deadly heat), and an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with great fear and the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for today I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.’”
One more image.
The documentary contains a couple of clips of Pashupati in Kathmandu. You may have seen videos of places like this. There is a river, barely a trickle, and a holy place has been built along its banks. This place includes multiple slabs atop stairs (ghats) from the river. On top of these are burned the bodies of people who have died. We visited this site in 2017. Thinking back now, I consider the possibility that some of those being cremated at that time were migrant workers who had died in Qatar.
And I pray:
Dear God;
My life is a life of comfort and ease compared to almost everyone in the world, certainly compared to Nepalese migrant workers.
I am grateful that you made the angelic birth announcement to people more like these workers than to people like me or to those deemed as important in today’s world. Help me to see what this might mean for how I view and treat others. Help me to see what this says about you.
“And there were shepherds …”
Amen
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