Clapton and God

Thanks to a graffiti (not to mention his guitar playing) the old line has been "Clapton is God." Well, that may not be literally (or even figuratively) true, it turns out that guitar god Eric Clapton has had an interesting and compelling spiritual pilgrimage. There is web-only story from Christianity Today on Eric Clapton that talks about his faith and its ups and downs. It seems to be taken from his autobiography, Clapton, which I got for Christmas and haven't had a chance to read yet. (Too many library books.)

According to the article and his book:

Clapton never set himself up as a model of Christian faith, and admits as much. He grew up in rural Surrey attending a local congregation of the Church of England, and in his autobiography, wrote that he "grew up with a strong curiosity about spiritual matters, but my searching took me away from church and community worship to the internal journey." The foundation of his minimalist faith is reflected in the favorite hymn of his youth, "Jesus Bids Us Shine":

Jesus bids us shine with a clear, pure light,
Like a little candle burning in the night;
In this world of darkness, we must shine,
You in your small corner, and I in mine.
(More on this hymn in a later post, by the way.)

It appears that some witness came from Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, who opened for Blind Faith in a 1969 tour (and with whom he later played the classic, Layla, has a faith influence on him as well. Needless to say, as it so often does, fame brought increasingly destructive events as his addictions spiraled downward. Sitting in rehab in 1987 he hit bottom and dedicated his sobriety to his newborn son, Conor, who was to die four years later. At that time his sobriety and AA helped him get through.

But at the bottom of his sobriety, it appears, is prayer. In his book he writes:

I was in complete despair. In the privacy of my room, I begged for help. I had no notion who I thought I was talking to, I just knew that I had come to the end of my tether … and, getting down on my knees, I surrendered. Within a few days I realized that … I had found a place to turn to, a place I'd always known was there but never really wanted, or needed, to believe in. From that day until this, I have never failed to pray in the morning, on my knees, asking for help, and at night, to express gratitude for my life and, most of all, for my sobriety. I choose to kneel because I feel I need to humble myself when I pray, and with my ego, this is the most I can do. If you are asking why I do all this, I will tell you … because it works, as simple as that.

I think it's about time to get to the book myself.