God Parenting Class

When my bestie asked me to be her child's Godfather, of course I was utterly and completely thrilled. I can think of no greater honor than for someone to want you to be their child's spiritual guide. So in a nanosecond I went from thrilled to beyond humbled.

A while later my bestie informed me part of my commitment is to obtain a God parenting certificate from a Catholic Church, the faith her daughter will be baptized in. I consider myself spiritual, and I identify as Buddhist ...

My bestie assured me her parish acknowledged the parents have every right to choose who they see best fit to fulfill this role. I know I'm totally up for it. Do I really have to infiltrate a Catholic parish and take a class there? Yes.

Last night I went to my local St. Francis of Assisi in Burien to participate in the required God parenting class. Of course I found a parish with a really effeminate name that's super fun to say with a lisp. OK, I know this is even more immature. They have a priest there named Father Dick. Sorry, sometimes I just cannot help myself.

Our first order of business was for each of us, and there were about a dozen in attendance, to introduce ourselves, whether we were part of the parish or where we were practicing parishioners. As luck would have it I was first up at bat:

"Hi, I'm Brad Davis ... I'm not yet a parishioner here ... Thank you."

The funny thing is in these moments of complete awkwardness, I've learned not to own it. I said what I said, so there. That's all there is. Thank you/NEXT.

The woman who led the group was really great. Totally pleasant, kind and welcoming. I think only three or four people in the room actually belonged to that parish. Except I was the only one who didn't claim another parish. What was I going to say? Buddha Jewel Monastery? I would have totally blown my cover.

When I shared with my bestie about my intro., she was quite impressed: "See, that's why I chose you, fast on your feet. Well played." she said.

After some history about baptisms in the Catholic church since the time of Emperor Constantine (that was a mighty long time ago), we learned about the history of baptisms at St. Francis. Then came our next sharing exercise. We were asked to take a list of symbols from our workbook and associate words with them. Here they were:

• The Cross
• Water
• Oil
• Garment
• Candle

Pretty much all the items our facilitator had up on an alter in the middle of the room.

Confession. Perhaps it's because I was not raised in any particular faith, I always feel inauthentic within a church. The exception being the monastery where I've been learning and practicing Buddhism. So I can't help but feel a little like an imposter. I never told anyone I was Catholic, and I never told anyone I wasn't Catholic. In my faith, sharing information that may be harmful to another can create bad karma. Anyway, I just needed to express that. Thank you.

I actually enjoyed the word association game. I even shared with the group. Here's what I came up with:

• The Cross - Sacrafice
• Water - Emotion, Life, Purity, Cleansing
• Oil - Essence
• Garment - Protection
• Candle - Light, Warmth, Spirit

We were also asked to write down three people who have passed the faith to us and what we remember about their sharing the faith. We were to do this among our table.

The gal sitting across from me is a mother of four boys. Her youngest, an infant, was sleeping peacefully in her arms. When she talked about this being her fourth baptism, she sounded a little exhausted and a bit "over it." Anyway, she shared about her oldest. When he was three, he underwent surgery. When they brought him out from the anesthesia, he told them he saw Jesus. She and her husband asked him what Jesus said to him. The boy said he didn't speak, he just stood by him and watched over him.

When I relayed that story to my bestie, she asked "Now do you believe?" Of course I believe there was a man named Jesus. There are plenty of them south of the boarder.

The woman explained while they said a prayer before her son's surgery, they didn't elaborate on Jesus. I must admit I was inspired by her tale.

I shared about my Grandma. For me she was such a wonderful source of love in my life, unconditional love. Again, the reference was to the faith. I imagine unconditional love to be fundamental value across most if not all religions. My Grandma was raised in the Welch church, and she also was not Catholic.

One of our last shares, which was for the whole group was about how to share the faith without words.

"Listen. Practice non-judgment. Live your values. Live with gratitude," I said.

I wanted to also add be present and meditate. But ...

Lastly, we were asked to take a candle up to the alter and light it. Before we did, we said the name of the child we were praying for. Gianna Di Maria Rhody