hi, an interesting piece, particularly after so much has been bandied about on faith in the Lucknow High Court Verdict. regards.
Who believes the believers? MUKULSHARMA ST CHRISTOPHER, the patron saint of travellers, was most probably a darkskinned member of a north African tribe in the fourth century who was captured by the Romans, conscripted, baptised and, ultimately, decapitated for his faith. Legends that have evolved around him on the other hand have fabulously reinvented him to serve quite another arguably valuable purpose. The man has been portrayed as an extremely tall and powerful light-skinned person who decided he wanted to be in the service of the greatest king in the land. So he found one and served him well for years till one day he saw the king cross himself when the name of the devil was mentioned in his presence. Then and there he decided his sovereign was not so powerful after all, for he had feet of clay and feared Satan. Naturally, his next choice of liege was thus Satan himself. Chancing upon a gang of marauders, the leader of whom claimed to be the devil, he immediately volunteered his services again and was taken in. But when he found his mew master move over to the other side of the road in order to avoid a wayside cross he realised the devil feared Christ. Now he had to serve Christ. But where to find him? A hermit suggested that because of his massive girth and strength the best way he could serve the Saviour was by helping people cross a particularly swollen and dangerous river, carrying them on his back. This too he did successfully for years till one day a little boy approached and asked to be ferried across. Things went well as they started out but soon our hero found himself struggling because the boy was beginning to get increasingly heavier. He thought they would both perish, yet somehow he managed to reach the bank. He said to the child, “It seemed I was carrying the whole world.” The child replied, “Not only the whole world but also its maker. I am Christ and pleased by your service.” Almost two thousand years later in 1969, Pope Paul VI removed St Christopher’s feast day from the Roman Catholic calendar of saints, saying that almost nothing at all historical was definitively known about him. Has this stopped faithful travellers from carrying his locket as pendants and dashboard ornaments? No way. When religious authorities or kings — or even courts for that matter — believe they can arbitrate on legends they forget that they’re also a lot like legends. They too exist only because we believe in them.
