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From Canon Ann Easter, Chief Executive of a Charity and Chaplain to the Queen:

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I guess most of us know at least one Chris – Evans - orÌý Kit or Christof and my husband’s Christopher – so when I saw it’s St Christopher’s day today in the Orthodox church I thought it’s a good opportunity to celebrate them all!

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The story goes that, way back in the second century, there was a big hunky chap called Reprobus – Latin for scoundrel – a bit of a lad evidently. He was a soldier, working for the king who decided, in that ambitious young man sort of way, that he wanted to work for the most powerful king of all. He looked around a bit and saw that many people he respected believed that Jesus was the most powerful King and so he went to see a wise old hermit for a bit of careers advice.

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The wise man told him all about Jesus Christ and our Rep asked how could he work for him; what could he do to serve this mighty king? ‘Pray and fast’ he was told. Ah. Not a very attractive job description for an energetic young man who said he didn’t think he could do that. ‘Then there’s a big dangerous river over there and people need to get across it. You go and carry them across and that way, you’ll serve Jesus’

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So that what Rep did. Until one day a little boy waited on the river bank. Rep put him on his shoulders and started across the river, but the currents were so strong and the waters swirled about him; the boy was like a lead weight. When he finally reached the other side and put the boy down, he said ‘I felt as if I’d got the whole world on my shoulders’. ‘Not just the whole world, but the one who made it too’ said the child. ‘You’ve carried the Christ so your name shall be Christopher’Ìý

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Asking for advice, knowing what we’re good at that will take us out of our comfort zone but won’t set us up to fail – all part of what Christians and St ChristopherÌý would call serving Jesus; the sort of thing that lets God’s light, life and love into this world and if, like our Chris, that means being crazily cheerful and making everyone smile every morning, then Chris on.