M.K.George

Lionel Messi is now a household name. At least for the lovers of soccer.

The Argentinian football player has won the hearts of millions. Here is the football history that makes him a legend: Prior to the World Cup, Messi has scored 695 goals in 831 games in club football across all competitions.

In the present World Cup, he has already scored five goals. For the 35-year-old legend, the coming final is going to be probably the last chance to deliver a World Cup to his motherland, Argentina. ‘With 12 Ballon d’Or awards, a host of personal records and many team trophies between them, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will go down in history as two of the best footballers of all time’, wrote Mike Starling (The Week 13.12.2022) .

Messi scores on another, probably lesser known, level too. In a recent article Dr. Cesar Chelala wrote, ‘throughout his professional career Messi has proven to be a remarkable person. Considered by many experts as the best soccer player in history, he is not only the most recognizable face of soccer worldwide. He is a kind man whose humanitarian work improves health and brings food and hope to thousands of disadvantaged children.’ (Counter Currents 13.12.2022)

In 1988 when Messi was just 11 years old, he was diagnosed with Growth Hormone Deficiency. His parents could not afford the treatment. Thanks to the kindness of Carles Rexach, the sporting director of F C Barcelona, Messi was able to get the treatment and move on to intense football practice. Those days were not easy for Messi. His teammates were big, rough and unkind to him. He himself has shared that those days he cried a lot, that he would lock himself in his room and cry his guts out in secret so that his father who accompanied him would not find out.

Personal suffering has matured Messi as not only a professional football player, but also a giver of great generosity. In 2007, Messi established the Leo Messi Foundation, a charity that helps children in crises to gain access to better health and education. Messi said in an interview, ‘Being a bit famous now gives me the opportunity to help people who really need it, particularly children’. As a Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF, he continues to reach out to vulnerable children elsewhere in the world too.

Christmas, a time for giving

Christmas in its original meaning is the story of a great giving. The almighty decided to become a man by assuming the body of a human being. God the father sends his son down to the earth as a human baby to save the world. The true significance of Christmas then is that as Jesus the Saviour is a gift from God the Father, we have to be gift givers to one another.

The many symbols and rituals surrounding Christmas particularly that of Santa Claus remind everyone that Christmas celebrations become meaningful and enjoyable only when you genuinely give. Who can forget the story, ‘The Gift of the Magi’ by O Henry? When Della, the protagonist, finds that she does not have enough money to buy a Christmas present for her husband Jim, she sells her lovely long hair to buy a platinum pocket watch for Jim. And imagine the scene when she discovers on Christmas night that Jim had sold his watch to buy a set of ornamental combs for her lovely hair, which were already gone.

Christmas is all about love, self-sacrificing love, unlike so much of the consumerist and flamboyant celebrations today.

The call is just around you

In this post pandemic, war-torn, and chaotic world, we do not have to look far away to give. The needy ones are just around the corner. May be the migrant labourer away from his/her family, the long term cancer patient who needs that cash to buy the next batch of medicines, the parent who is struggling to pay for the tuition fee or even the homeless on the street. The quality of giving will be far nobler when we decide to sacrifice not just a luxury, but also even a need.

You do not have to be a Messi to give. However, Messi definitely inspires you to give.