Living The Present Moment

In the 1960's, a group of college students prepared for the Civil Rights campaign. There had already been violence against them. They knew that some of them might not return. They had called their families. This group had decided to stay. In their darkest hour, they united by singing an invocation, a Spiritual from the Gullah people. The powerful invocation "Come by here" translates to "Kum-ba-ya". Many have incorrectly adopted the song for a “feel good” moment. Today, people often laugh and sneer at these "feel good" gatherings of people coming together, setting aside their differences, only to sing a nonsense word and get nothing done. The song has been taken out of its cultural and spiritual context, meaning has been lost, and the power has been taken out of the song. However, at its origin, this song is an invocation: "Come by Here, Lord." Kumbaya was not sung in good times, but in dark times, in desperate times, in times of need. The Gullah are the descendants of the African slaves living on the coasta