Do you remember the 70's? Admit it, many of you do, and I'll leave it to you to calculate how old you were at the beginning of that decade. I was in my teens and was enthusiastic about rock music and didn't have much time for folk, which was moe the style of my girlfriend at the time, who has been my wife for the past 45 years.
I did appreciate a guitarist and singer/songwriter who was one of her favourites, Bruce Cockburn. He wa an excellent player and he wrote thoughtful songs which often had a a spiritual element. Earnest young Christians speculated about his faith, and he did share that he was a Christian of the evangelical persuasion in those early years. Time passed, his marriage ended, and Cockburn drifted away from the "me and Jesus" sort of faith and church-going, even though he continued to be passionate about issues of social justice. We saw him in concert in various cities and venues through the years, at least four times.
Nearly forty years later his now wife cajoled him into attending worship with her.San Francisco, where they live. She had returned to church after experiencing the loss of someone dear to her. Cockburn found the experience meaningful and he had a degree of anonymity despite his fame and accolades in Canada and elsewhere. When he was invited to join the wroship band he did, Earlier this year he released four songs as a fundraiser for the congregation's programs to assist homeless people and combat human trafficking.
In a Religion News piece about his return to a faith community he reflects on being a Christian:
The truth was, “The formal church and I had grown apart,” he said of his decision, even as his faith remained strong. “It’s a continuing journey,” he said. “I don’t feel I have the corner on understanding anything. I just have a desire to have a relationship with God, a day-to-day thing … I’ve always believed a relationship with God should be central to everyone’s life, and I’ve tried to keep it the center of mine.”
While he doesn’t have “any hesitation” identifying as a Christian, he’s starting to wonder if that’s such a good thing to say in public in the U.S. these days. If someone asks if he’s a Christian, he still says, “Yes, I’m a Christian, but I got vaccinated.”Because of pandemic shutdowns, Cockburn hasn’t played live at church for more than a year. But he has played songs for online services and participated in a sermon series about parables. The worship band gives him “a chance to play music other than my own,” he said. “It’s a meaningful way for me to participate.”
I get a kick out of the notion of geezer Bruce (he's now 76) as part of a worship band with congregants saying "hey, the old guy is pretty good!" How wonderful that he's sharing his gifts in this way.
Here is the link for the Lighthouse congregation https://sflighthouse.org/
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