Bruce Cockburn describes his conversion experience: I made a commitment to Jesus. From that moment I saw myself as a follower of Christ...From that night on, for almost three decades, I told anyone who asked that I was a Christian... (his words pp. 133&134 of his memoir - see my Christmas Day post below). It was at a time when he and his first wife Kitty were touring England and he came face to face with his inability to overcome the demon of emotional need that pressed him to inordinate attraction to other women. Heres what he says in his memoir about that experience: The next day we were quiet. We took a boat through the Stockholm archipelago, a glorious assemblage of thirty thousand islands dotting the edge of the Baltic. It was late summer, a bright and lovely day, cool. Ripples sparkled and danced along the deep blue waters. Brown tones of reedy shallows were dotted with the darting of tiny fish that flashed as they turned. In them I saw our lives, flaring and fading in the bigness of things. I couldnt shake a feeling of desperate need, of my ultimate helplessness, of the previous days debacle, of the struggle that our marriage had become. Back at our suite I entered the bedroom by myself. I ached for the deep and nurturing embrace of the Divine to supplant these cravings for women, whatever they stood for. I wanted a healthy relationship with Kitty. It wasnt long before I was begging on my knees, consciously asking Jesus to help me, to fortify my mind and salve my soul, to make me the person he wanted me to be. I prayed like a child, without reserve. Suddenly it was there, the same presence I had felt during our wedding ceremony, in the room with me, its energy filling the air. I felt my heart forced open. He was there! And it was definitely he. A male entity, more fraternal than paternal, radiant with calm power, a saviour showing up to save me because Id asked. I made a commitment to Jesus. From that moment I saw myself as a follower of Christ. That night the words came, and flowed freely onto the page: All the diamonds in this world That mean anything to me Are conjured up by wind and sunlight Sparkling on the sea I ran aground in a harbour town Lost the taste for being free Thank God he sent some gull-chased ship To carry me to sea Two thousand years and half a world away Dying trees still will grow greener when you pray Silver scales flash bright and fade In reeds along the shore Like a pearl in sea of liquid jade His ship comes shining Like a crystal swan in a sky of suns His ship comes shining. ALL THE DIAMONDS IN THE WORLD.1973 I found some diatonic chords to give it the flavour of a hymn, and in 1974 we placed All the Diamonds in the World as the first song on Salt, Sun and Time. From that night on, for almost three decades, I told anyone who asked that I was a Christian. (pp. 132-234, RUMOURS OF GLORY: A Memoir -Bruce Cockburn & Greg King
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 19:30:37 +0000
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