A congregation of the United Church of Canada
Like countless other Canadians, and people worldwide, I spent much of Tuesday listening to Gordon Lightfoot music, and feeling a little sad. I learned the news of his passing on Monday evening, and instantly I was taken back to when I was 13 years old. I remember the night so clearly. It was my very first big time concert experience, and the performer was none other than Gordon Lightfoot. My parents took me to see him in Peterborough. A few months later my Christmas present would be my very first ever guitar. That concert inspired me greatly. As they say, I cut my teeth on guitar learning to play his music. I had an ‘easy play’ book of his hits, and I played it cover to cover, over and over and over again. So yes, Gordon’s music is very special to me.
I never actually got to meet him, but I did wave at him once. At least I think it was him. He lived around the corner from where my wife’s family lived when I first dated her, and he often walked the neighbourhood. I think that makes us best friends!
He and I had something else in common too. We both grew up in the United Church, and both of our first vocal trainings came through the church choir. Gord’s family was part of St. Paul’s United in Orillia. He frequently reminisced fondly in interviews about his childhood and youth experiences singing in church. He sang for weddings and funerals, and at Christmas, and in concerts, all at the church. He maintained his connection with the United Church all his life.
I’m not sure that I could name my favourite song of his. There are so many. “The Canadian Railroad Trilogy” is probably it. Then there’s the hauntingly sad “Circle of Steel.” His song “Beautiful” introduced me to ‘major 7th chords’ which sound gorgeous. Of course, “If You Could Read My Mind” is right up there.
That’s one of the songs that over time he changed the lyrics of. It was a song about the breakup of his marriage. His daughter later pointed out to him that the reason for the breakup wasn’t “the feelings that you lack” (sung about his partner), but instead “the feelings that we lack.” He never sang the original words again. He also forged a connection with the family descendants of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” crew, and after a conversation with one of the widows he changed the line about ‘the hatch’ which conveyed an assumption that someone (her husband) didn’t do their job properly. Again, he never sang the original lyric again.
A person who was raised in the United Church, who once wrote and spoke in certain ways, comes to deeper understandings about issues, realizes their short-falling, and makes an adjustment in their thinking and actions. That, my friends, is what journeying ever deeper in the way of Jesus looks like in practice. That, is humility, and compassion, and loving-kindness. That, is the fruit of faith. So I will mourn Gordon Lightfoot, not just because of what a special musician he was, but because in important ways he was our kindred in Christ. Not perfect, by any measure – none of us are – but faithful, growing, and on the way. I hope you’ll listen to some of his songs, and remember.