My Godmother came into my life around four years ago. At the time, I didn't know she would be my Godmother. In fact,she didn't know she would be my Godmother.
When I first asked her to be my Godmother, she looked at me with not a little terror in her eyes. At that moment, I knew I had made the right decision.
The Godparent/Godchild relationship is taken seriously in the Orthodox Church. Every person, whether a child or an adult, is to have someone who takes on this role. The role and responsibilities are lifelong. From baptism and onward, the Godparent is to pray for their Godchild, to take interest in who they are both in and out of church, to model faith in all of life, and to cultivate a relationship.
But I didn't know all of this when I asked her to be my Godmother. I just knew that it was something I was supposed to do. And it had taken me long enough to get on the bus for this journey; I wasn't going to let the matter of a Godmother stop me. Still, it was not easy to ask, especially when I didn't know her well.
She didn't respond quickly. Instead she paused and looked at me. "Well...," her tone was measured. "If you need to get together all the time and talk, then I'm probably not the right person." I breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing I wanted was an overly sincere, motherly Godmother. I wanted someone who would walk alongside me but not be pedantic. I wanted someone I could trust, who wouldn't guilt me into being someone or something I couldn't be. Most of all, I wanted someone who knew that Orthodoxy was a long journey, not a short hike.
And so, she agreed.
We are two different people, she and I.I am pepper and she is salt. I am feisty and angsty, reactionary and passionate. She is calm and rational, thoughtful and steady. I am the questioner, she the receiver of questions.
But we both know the long road of obedience is never easy. We both know that community takes work. We both know that we are desperately in need of grace. And so the differences dissolve, the tastiness of pepper and salt realized in the relationship. Slowly, I realize that Salt is not only my Godmother, she has become my friend.
Now these four years later, I wonder sometimes - if she really knew what the role included, would she still come alongside? I like to think she would.