I love the idea of Godparents and intend on borrowing this practice from Catholicism.
If you want to read a whole article on it, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godparent . If not, I'll give you my thoughts here.
The idea of community is one we're losing quickly (to our detriment), so I think that anything that can be done to increase a person's (in this case, a child's) community is a positive thing. The wikipedia article talks about how "the modern view of a godparent tends to be an individual chosen by the parents to take an interest in the child's upbringing and personal development." It says they act as sponsors for the child and guarantors of the child's spiritual upbringing. The article uses fairy tales as a means of relating meaning—essentially, godparents are helpers from outside the family who have a sincere and vested interest and involvement in his/her godchild.
The article also talks about the history of the godparent. Godparents were originally one who stood by a child who was to be baptized. They would act as voice for the child, declaring the child's faith. This person would obviously have to be in good standing with the church to be able to do so. They would also, as mentioned, assure the church they would look out for the child and raise them to be faithful. I realized the name is (probably purposefully so, but when you hear a name so often like "godfather" or "godmother" sometimes you forget to break it down) exactly what it is—that is, a "god"-parent. A person who is in relation to you, somewhat similar to Jesus (obviously on a different scale of magnitude). Think about it. This person acts as voice for a person who has not yet gained trust with the "authority" (God the Father, for the Jesus metaphor), but the voice is one who has walked the path and proved he is in good standing and can thus plead for the other. Because of the voice of this other, the child is given a chance. The advocate also guarantees that he/she will look out for the child, help raise the child in the right ways, and do everything he/she can to help them live with faith. When the title is truly considered, it adds depth to the relationship.
We should all have godparents. Probably, we should all act in this way towards everyone else, but it helps to have a title and be in a special role (social psychology says this helps us act in the way expected of us).
I don't feel the Catholics would mind any of us borrowing from this great practice. Find a godfather or godmother for your kid. Heck, find one for yourself! It will be something I definitely do carefully, really trying to be open to what the Universe tries to tell me about who would be best for my kid. It seems to me that our artists are often demi-prophets—that is, all of their musing seems to put them in touch with truth (For example, George Orwell, 1984); I don't think it's a coincidence that in fairy tales, it's fairy godparents who come to the rescue. Perhaps those stories are trying to teach us something about God. Perhaps those stories are trying to teach us something about the importance of that relationship and that role—that someday, when everything else seems to be going wrong, a person in that role can show up just at the right time and help save the day. Perhaps they're just stories. Either way, I'm in.
PS__(If I've gotten anything about this godparents practice and idea wrong and you know better, please let me know. I certainly have no intent to offend anyone if I am grossly mistaken in any of my facts and opinions.)
