Bruce Cockburn

Wow, wow, wow! Last night I got to see Bruce Cockburn in concert. What an inspiring, magical experience it was! He turns 79 on Monday, yet once again, he put on an amazing show. I think this is the tenth time I have seen him perform live, spanning 45 years of my life, since I was a young medical student. He came out on the stage, walking very slowly, supported on two canes. He was hunched over and his hands were full of osteoarthritis, yet he was full of life, feisty, and irreverent. YAY!

The first half of the concert I thought, “Oh no, he’s not as good as he used to be. That’s so sad, but understandable.” But when he came out for the second set, suddenly, his fingers were flying, his voice was soaring, and he was able to move all of us profoundly with his musicianship, his voice, his humour, and his indomitable spirit. Following the second set he hobbled off the stage, but after a lot of cheering, he came back and did a three song encore, and we were moved even more deeply. I have a lot to think about regarding this experience. Here are a couple of my early takeaways:

1) He’s still a committed activist, but he’s also spending significant time looking fearlessly ahead towards his death, preparing for it in his own way. His latest CD, O Sun, O Moon, is a beauty. My favourite song is Into the Now. I love the final chorus:

“End of it all, End of it all. See if I get there at the end of it all. Honey from God, honey from God. Love trickles down like honey from God. Into the now, into the now, out of the armour and into the now.”

2) He inspires me to be all that I can be in my next 10 years. I am 69, he is 79. May I be as committed to what I know to be my purpose, as he has been to his in the past 10 years. On his website he says, “Part of the job of being human is just to try to spread light, at whatever level you can.” Amen to that, and Go Bruce Go!

I got to enjoy the concert in the company of my two daughters, neither of whom have had the opportunity to see Bruce live before. We had a lovely dinner before the concert, as this was my Mother’s Day gift and activity with them. What pure joy it was to be in their company. Oh what a night! Woo hoo!