While he doesn’t have “any hesitation” identifying as a Christian, he’s starting to wonder if that’s such a good thing to say in public in the U.S. these days.
If someone asks if he’s a Christian, he still says, “Yes, I’m a Christian, but I got vaccinated.”
Because of pandemic shutdowns, Cockburn hasn’t played live at church for more than a year. But he has played songs for online services and participated in a sermon series about parables. The worship band gives him “a chance to play music other than my own,” he said. “It’s a meaningful way for me to participate.”
One of the songs he wrote for the fundraiser, “Orders,” is “a biblical take on things, the order to love them all,” he said, referring to Jesus’ command to love neighbors.
“Lots of people who consider themselves believers frequently forget that,” he said. “It’s a reminder to myself as much as to anyone else,” he added.
Another song, “Us All,” addresses political polarization in America.
Lots of things divide people, Cockburn said. But “one of the things we all have in common is pain. We have scars that unite us all.”
When asked about where his music comes from, he said they are gifts that “come from God.”
“I still have to filter it,” he said, adding, “Unfortunately, that means God is stuck with me as a filter.”
This article originally appeared here.
