Category: Articles

Themes of homecoming in the face of the forces of homelessness have been ubiquitous in the lyrics of singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn over his thirty-five year career and twenty-seven albums. Whether the forces that render people homeless are identified with militarism and imperialism (dominant themes in Cockburn’s early work) or with the neo-liberal forces of global capitalism (in the more recent albums), the critique is the same. But such homelessness can only be countered by a radical vision of homecoming. The imperial eschatology, which is “hooked on avarice,” can only be demythologized by an alternative vision of hope directed to homecoming. This paper will investigate Cockburn’s commitment to opening up human experience, giving voice to human longing for homecoming in the midst of displacement, and how he does so by facing head-on the essential sadness of exile with both prophetic critique and a spirituality of hope that takes most of its cues from biblical metaphors and images. Insofar as exile is never simply a matter of physical displacement from a homeland, but more perniciously a captivation of the imagination that leaves the exilic community lost in amnesia, forgetting the way home, then Cockburn’s artistry could be said to be driven towards a liberation of the imagination towards homecoming.

This article deals with the search for Asian identities through hymns largely published in Sound the Bamboo: CCA Hymnal 2000 (originally published in 1990; revised and enlarged in 2000). It contains 315 hymns with 44 different languages from 22 Asian countries, and was mainly collected and edited by the author. After a brief introduction discussing Christian faith and the recent impact of globalization on Asian churches, the author summarizes features of texts and prominent themes and general musical styles in Asian hymns. The focal point is on the search of Asian musical identities through the analysis of harmonic languages, such as adopted Western harmony, indigenous/traditional harmony, contextual harmony, and contemporary and international styles. The author finally uses two of his own compositions to demonstrate his personal search for Asian identities, and concludes that the best of Asian musical styles have emerged from approaches that are ethnic and indigenous, with syncretic harmony, and those that are innovative, incarnational, and confessional.

Media experts differ widely on the value of popular culture. Is it today’s “face of Jesus”? Or, does it vitiate spirituality and tear down worthwhile societal values? The article traces concepts of culture and culture formation. The author argues that popular culture both reflects and affects the values people construct for themselves. Popular culture is a meaning-making and religious act. By engaging general revelation, it may express human hungers, anxieties, injustices and sorrows significantly and truly. Yet it may provide an alternate reality and narrative, supplanting the sacred metanarrative for the plot of life once provided by the religious community. This reality often centers on entertainment personalities through whom people can vicariously live their lives. Popular culture’s narrative framework for personal identity formation may produce its own “God,” and miss its God-ordained purpose of providing an insightfully human narrative that may through the Spirit lead ultimately to the Logos, Jesus Christ. The article is followed by two critical responses.