ERIC CLAPTON

I finally got done reading this article about Eric Clapton in Vanity Fair. I've always been a fan of what Clapton produces and without a doubt he is one of the best guitar players ever. Songs like "Tears in Heaven" and "Wonderful Tonight" are absolute classics.

What struck me about the article was the quote he gave when describing the end of his second stint in an alcohol rehabilitation center. After he got out he was facing the reality of being a father for the first time and feeling like rehab didn't work again until ....

Almost of their own accord, my legs gave way and I fell to my knees. In the privacy of my room I begged for help. I had no notion of whom I thought I was talking to—I just knew that I had come to the end of my tether, and I had nothing left to fight with. Then I remembered what I had heard about surrender, something I thought I could never do, that my pride just wouldn’t allow it. But I knew that on my own I wasn’t going to make it, so I asked for help, and, getting down on my knees, I surrendered.

Within a few days, I realized that something had happened for me. An atheist would probably say it was just a change of attitude, and to a certain extent that’s true, but there was much more to it than 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. It’s as simple as that. In all the time I’ve been sober, I have never once seriously thought of taking a drink or a drug. I have no problem with religion, and I grew up with a strong curiosity about spiritual matters, but my searching took me away from church and community worship to the internal journey. Before my recovery began, I had found my God in music and the arts ... In some way, in some form, my God was always there, but now I have learned to talk to him.

I am in no way saying that Eric Clapton is a "born again Christian" but it's odd and really fascinating how so many song writers and musicians have these questions/curiosities about God, spirituality or religion.