Show Me The Meaning Of The Word
Most of us know the words to the spiritual folk song “Kumbaya.” Boy and Girl Scouts, families, and friends have been singing it softly in perfect harmony around campfires for nearly 100 years.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that this beloved sing-along is still popular with today’s youth as a mainstay at outings and camping excursions. The youngest kids can sing it loud and sing it proud but are also more than likely making their parents and older siblings laugh out loud as they make their way around the fire chanting the other sacred camping song: “Oh-wah Tay-gu Siam.”
For many years it was believed that “Kumbaya” originated in Angola, West Africa. It turns out that it is actually the creation of the Gullah, an African American people of the Sea Islands along coastal South Carolina and Georgia. In 1927 Robert Winslow, an unemployed English professor, made the first recording of “Kumbaya, my Lord.”
Not to detract from the beauty and soothing, protective feelings this word evokes, the most current meaning in English is that no one really knows the meaning, and perhaps there is none. In Gullah, “Kumbaya” means “Come by here” so the lyrics could be translated as “Come by here, my Lord, come by here.” A modern twist is that the ‘kumbaya moment’ could express a conflict among two or more parties that are remaining civil in spite of their lack of agreement — agreeing to disagree.
Regardless, most of us have a loving attachment and memory of the experience that transcends all words since it speaks to our hearts and vibrates with our own sacred love center.
I Want To Take You Higher
Anyone who has ever experienced happiness or joy did so because of love. Love is the only force capable of making people happy. In fact, the function and purpose of all relationships is to make happy and nothing else.
Being in contact with one’s own love is the only natural state there is because it offers us completion. All other states are limited and limiting because they are based on fear, the desire for more, and the illusion of temporary love.
If love is all, the only possible experiences are peace and joy, which are the same as love. There are no levels, variations, or different aspects of truth because everything in reality is 100 percent true all of the time. Truth never changes, which is the most important point to understand for those who wish to be at peace.
All illusions are also one and the same. Only their forms appear different, which results in chaos and confusion for those who are willing to be deceived. We do not have to buy into illusions because they are totally false, do not exist, and, quite frankly, we deserve better.
The Spark
When a person has an encounter that is not of this world, they know it. Those who are ready will go through a period of disorientation before they are willing to take a serious look at what has transpired: Their world has been turned inside out and upside down. No worries, for their perception is simply being righted. Those who are not fully prepared to embrace their spiritual nature will stay in a state of flux until they are ready to ask: What are you?
A Kumbaya Moment
Readiness is the first smoke signal we send and receive. Our highest self asks for a reminder and experience that a person can relate to on this earthly level: A vision, a voice, a thought, or a teacher.
Rest assured there will always be a witness to share the event because love is an act of sharing. Loneliness in love must be a dream, and one we will never have to face alone.
Call it a holy instant or the biggest “aha moment” ever, this sacred space transcends time and is unlike every other encounter because it is an experience of unspeakable love. Love is in the world but not of this world.
After the initial shock and intense surprise wears off, the soul-searching begins in earnest. Relationships often shift and change drastically as we seek for answers and verification that we are not losing our way, but have found the path and are on it. What seems to be the end of a relationship is not a disruption but a means to save it. All who meet will meet again someday.
Denial is a double-edged sword. Some will deny their revelation and run away from light instead of embracing their reality. The shadow worlds we think we see in front of us are cast from the light that is behind us, when we have turned our back on love. Denial has the ability to remind those who experience fear in the presence of truth to acknowledge a couple of things.
First, it makes no sense to fear something that has already happened. If there was a vision or wave of energy that was clearly not of this world, good deal! Be glad!
Secondly, if we deny something, we must have known it once or we are denying nothing, rendering our fear impotent. Returning to the fact that the incident has already happened is the logical focus, with the awareness that we survived and emerged unscathed.
The path we are on restores what we have lost sight of. Reality and truth are never really lost because that would be impossible — the separation from Love could not and has not happened.
The Flame
Once we have had the ‘kumbaya experience’ it remains with us forever. We can deny it, hide it, or try to diminish it, but it never stops calling us to be at peace. The instant that love stepped in to take the place of fear is one we would do well to nurture and guard carefully with our thoughts. The spark of creation is held safely in the hearts of those who call upon it to save them from a world of despair.
It takes a lot of effort to forget our loving essence and wander off alone, miserable and afraid. But it takes no effort at all to keep the spark alive by gently fanning it into a flame that stands ready to warm the hearts of those who are still lost and struggling in the dark.
After we step on the path, vigilance and diligence will be necessary to maintain a durable equilibrium. Backtracking will delay the inevitable result of being a joyous person. Delay will be detrimental because it deprives us of the only things we want: Love, peace, and happiness.
Hearts Afire
It can seem like a long and lonely journey as we make our way back home. Let’s dispel the illusion of separation right now. If we really knew the enormity and completely gentle power of love that goes with us we would never waver in our commitment to reality.
There are nearly seven billion people counting on each of us to light the spark, fan the flames, and turn the bonfire into the illuminating light that is bright enough to dispel all shadows that vanish without a trace, once the light has come.
This light is not a fantasy, but represents the perfect unity and serene, endless beauty that is who and what we are. Take your brother’s hand and walk out of the darkness, softly singing “Kumbaya,” as everything becomes radiant in the light that is always there to remind us that Love is the Answer.
Carmen Allgood © January 2016
Join us for Highest Self Healing Radio every Sunday Morning @ 8 A.M. PST on KINT98.com as David Patterson, Carmen Allgood, and Music Miles talk about Energetic Medicine and how to clear dis-ease from the mind and body. Programs are available ON DEMAND as a broadcast/podcast on the Talk Show page at KINT98.com
Music Video The Seekers – Kumbaya
The Seekers were a group of Australian folk artists, which formed in Melbourne Victoria, Australia, in 1962. They were the first Australian music group to achieve significant chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States, with nine hits in the UK and Australia.
Images courtesy Pixabay
