In the midst of all my current life madness, my little sister asked me to be Godmother to my niece! After 5 seconds of contemplation I said YES! Being as I know nothing about being a godmother, I decided to do some research. In my initial search, I realized that not only will I be responsible for ensuring the spiritual 'training' of my niece; I will also be responsible for taking care of her should anything happen to her parents. No pressure.
Oh, I also found out that Godmother is the female form of the Godparent (duh) and the name of an alcoholic beverage made with Italian Amaretto Liquor and Vodka (is it sinful for me to think that sounds yummy?!). So, not only do I get to celebrate the fact that I will be responsible for whether or not my niece ends up in heaven or hell, I can do so by raising a glass of my namesake. I don't know how I feel about ensuring the spiritual training of anyone; I'm still working on my own spiritual training. But, I think the best course of action will be to do as my parents did with me…provide the foundation and then provide the freedom to make a choice as to what you can personally believe in and live up to. I have a problem with people who stand on glass pedestals and speak of their morals and values and then find that they only live up to them when placed under scrutiny. I have an even bigger problem with fair-weather religious folk, those who only spend time thinking about a God or faith when something is in error in their life – when shit has hit the fan – or when they spend all week behaving as sinners, admittedly so, and then find a cure on Sunday to wash it all away. The only downside to commercialized faith, as it seriously is today with mega-churches, etc. – is that the only thing anyone walks away with knowing for sure is that all things can be forgiven. All you have to do is appear to believe and you can constantly be reborn (so for anyone who states they don't believe in reincarnation, they shouldn't believe in the most common religions at all because life itself is one giant comedy of errors with the ability 'escape clause' being the ability to reborn, even when you are utterly without merit as a human being, when it all comes tumbling down).
Considering that I find faith to be a very personal thing, the best statement I've heard to categorize it is, "the Kingdom of God is inside you, and all around you, not in mansions of wood and stone. Split a piece of wood... and I am there, lift a stone... and you will find me." Faith should be private, a constant commitment to personal betterment and peace, and it should be found at any time, everywhere. It should be free to flourish in its truest forms – the intent never to do or bring harm to others. My 'spiritual foundation' came from the Lutheran Church by my families' side and often resting my head on my father's knee in the pew waiting after eating too many pretzel sticks in the bible study. But, when I became older, my parents 'set me free' so to speak and told me it was up to me to find out what I could believe in, hold onto in my heart, and strive to live up to. Those values, morals, promises, whatever you want to call them, that would make it possible for me to look at myself in the mirror and know I was a person who lived by the tenets I set for myself and found pride in that, I don't think any type of faith is meant to break you down or make you feel burdened by guilt for not being good enough. But, as I think about the foundation and guidance I can give my niece, I am heartened by the fact that many close friends of mine are being ordained and entering different churches and carry the belief in different faiths, ideologies, and values – so I will have a wide pool from which to gather information for her to examine. In the meantime, I can revisit my own understanding of faiths, read the holy books I haven't read in a long time, and continue to strengthen my own spiritual self. So when the time comes, as she grows, my niece will know the true essence of freedom of religion, as more than a right. As a measure of respect given from one person (the teacher) to another (the student) – being that one tells the story and the other comes to their own conclusion based on all they know – to know you are free to choose what path you'll take, what beliefs you'll embody and what values you can strive to live up to throughout your life, just as I was.
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