My first day as a godmother

As you may have read in my last post, I had the distinct privilege this weekend to become the godmother to my best friend Noelle’s beautiful daughter, Temperance. This is my first time being a godmother, and I am taking the responsibility very seriously. I have baptized several children in my two and a half years in ministry, and I generally meet beforehand with the parents and sponsors. When I do, I always ask the sponsors what that role means to them, and how they plan to carry it out. So it seemed only right to ask myself the same question.

I did a few things to prepare for my new role (see below if you are interested). As many baptisms as I have done, none of those experiences could really compare to participating in this new role. There were two other godparents, but both got snowed in in Indiana, so I was it. This left me with the job of holding sweet girl throughout the baptism, with all the various rituals that lead up to and follow it, and most importantly, of holding her over the font while the deacon poured water on her head three times, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Though Tem’s beautiful, satin, voluminous gown made this a bit tricky, especially for someone with very little experience holding babies (almost all of my baby-holding experience, in fact, has taken place at baptisms), I held her and didn’t drop her or make her cry once.

All throughout the baptism, as the deacon spoke and performed each step of the Sacrament, I whispered in Temperance’s ear what was happening. “That’s the cross of Christ… He’s talking about you now… Are you ready? We’re going to the font now… Welcome, child of God! God loves you so, so much!... That smelly oil is so you will remember!... That’s the light of Christ your daddy is holding – it’s in you, too!” It was the infant, real time version of what I usually do with parents in my pre-baptism visits.

This was my first experience with a Catholic baptism, and while I rather liked some of the steps that Lutherans have, over the years, either done away with or combined, the most striking moment of all was still that moment I held her over the font. As I leaned her back, her face scrunched up, and her chubby little arms flung out to the sides. There, in her long, white gown, arms outstretched, Temperance made the shape of a cross.

All my study of baptismal theology came flooding back.* “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6:3) This beautiful child, cross-shaped, with her brow furrowed was being baptized into Christ’s very death, but just as the water touched her head the first time, the scowl went away, and was replaced with a face full of wonder. “Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a into a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Rom. 6:4-5)

Is Temperance's reaction not a perfect metaphor of our faith? Our faces and lives become contorted, worried, concerned as we try to come to grips with the brokenness that surrounds us. We live in a fallen and sinful world, a world that may feel at times like the cross. But just as we experience so much death, we also encounter so much resurrection – and as we are touched with the cleansing, healing waters of baptism, and hear of God's grace, our faces are transformed into faces full of wonder. And we come up out of that water looking a bit baffled, relieved, and knowing that we have encountered grace and love beyond our comprehension. That's the power of the gospel!

I think I’m going to like being a godmother. J

Steps toward being a godmother:

Mostly basically, the role of the godparents or sponsors is to help to raise this child in the faith. How would I do this from a state away? One of the ways my parents helped me remember my baptism was on each anniversary of my baptism (Aug. 28) they lit my baptismal candle, which had my name on it and the date of my baptism. This was the candle that was first lit from the Paschal candle on the day of my baptism, symbolizing Christ’s resurrection. I still pull it out every year and light it and if possible, have a nice dinner to celebrate. So, step one of Operation: Godmother was to acquire such a candle for Temperance, a good one, more substantial than what the church provides, and it had to have her name on it. As a kid, the coolest part of that candle was that my name was on it. A trip to etsy.com, and my mission for a custom candle was accomplished.

A trip to the websites of various church publishers was my next step, to find some books to help Temperance remember what it means to be baptized. I found a couple good ones – one is a board book, where the text of the book ends up being a song you sing to her to the tune of “Go, My Children, With My Blessing.” The other is 101 ways to live baptismal promises in the home, with children infant to teenager. Both would do nicely to bridge the gap of that four-hour drive between us.

* Water pun intended!