The supporters of Tradition, like that at all, and of keeping the customs because they are, are not aware that the traditions that are worthwhile find a way to survive by a kind of natural selection, while the dispensable ones are becoming obsolete without anyone I miss them a lot, although sometimes it doesn’t happen as fast as it should. That’s why goats are no longer thrown from bell towers – even some celebrations that involve animal torture persist and the sooner they die out, the better – or almost no one keeps an imposed mourning like the one that subjected so many women for centuries, forced to dress in black, whether they wanted to or not. In contrast, well-designed traditions fit everything. They are like those plants that grow anywhere.
As a furiously atheist and at times anti-clerical person, a staunch supporter of secularism in the public sphere, I never doubted that my children, if they arrived, would have godparents, without there being any baptism. Because godfather and godfather are fantastic words to designate an adult you choose to have a special place in your child’s life and, if you live in Catalonia, to show him your love in grams of chocolate this Easter Monday.
In many schools, each child in P3 is given a senior year sponsor. It works very well: the little ones gain security, the big ones feel responsible and strong bonds emerge from a random distribution.
I have also been lucky enough to be the godmother of an exceptional person for 15 years and I have always tried to take the position with the seriousness it deserves. For the past couple of holy weeks, my godson prefers t-shirts and pants instead of balls, stadiums, Messis and chocolate Blaugrana shirts that for years his godfather and I have been looking for in the pastry shops, innovating without leaving the football themed, which is what he likes. Although it grieves and confuses me that my godson is no longer a huggable cherub, it is good that he is now able to ask me for his gift by watsap with a link to Zalando. At the end he has his shirt, and also some chocolate, because good traditions are those that regenerate.
