May 11, 2007 – by Rob Tripp
Bruce Cockburn, the Canadian music icon who once penned a song about retaliatory killing with a rocket launcher, has received an honorary doctor of divinity from Queen’s University.
The 61-year-old Ottawa native, whose 29 full-length albums are infused with religious and spiritual imagery, was bestowed the doctorate at the convocation ceremony for Queen’s Theological College Wednesday night [May 11, 2007].
“In all the time I’ve spent thinking about God in my life, I never thought I’d be recognized for it,” Cockburn said at the ceremony.
Cockburn charged the graduates, many of whom will become ordained ministers in the United Church, to look past New-Age spirituality and fundamental evangelism and focus on God.
“In between those cracks there is a place for sharing real experiences about God,” Cockburn said.
