What It Means To Be A GODPARENT...

I've been asked by a friend in the Philippines to be a godfather to her child. When I received the SMS, I was kind of wondering what this was all about and what the responsibilities would be. I do have a godmother. But, frankly, I know nothing about what being a godparent means!!! I happened to be chatting online with a friend in Thailand. So, I asked her if she knew anything about being godparent and apparently, she was not sure either.

So, I did some research on the internet, and I realised that it was a great honour, privilege and responsibility to be asked to be a godparent. However, the decision to accept should be thought through seriously. But, what is a godparent? A godparent is a person who is legally entrusted to look after a child in case both his legal parents should die. A male godparent is a godfather and a female godparent is a godmother. A godparent may be related to the child, such as an uncle or an aunt, or may simply be a friend of the family.

Questions to ask yourself before agreeing to be a Godparent

Are your views on religion, spirituality and morality similar to the child's parents? If they are, all well and good. If not, this need not be an obstacle: the parents may have chosen you because your views are different. But make sure the parents know your views and are happy with them before you decide to accept.

Will you be around? Being a Godparent involves developing a relationship with the child and helping the parents in his/her spiritual upbringing. If you are about to emigrate to the other side of the world this will become very difficult. But it need not make it impossible. It is rather exotic to have a Godparent in Timbuktoo - especially to visit in their Gap year - but you will have to work that much harder to make the relationship work.

Do you have an interest in the child's well-being? If you really cannot tolerate children maybe you should say so no rather than agreeing and then disappointing later. But bear in mind that many Godparents find they only really begin to establish a relationship with their Godchild when he/she reaches teenage or beyond.

So, did I accept the invitation? Hmmmmmmmm.. it is for you to guess...