It has become popular among the Limbaugh Legion and the commentators
toeing the Ailes Line to adopt Kumbayah as a term of derision aimed
at anyone who views making war as a last resort rather than an instant
reflex. They neither appreciate nor care that they are ridiculing
a prayer soliciting the Lord's presence. Nothing is more appropriate
at a time of national peril than to ask the Lord to stand by us.
Kumbayah is a Gullah word and the song that has been so derided is
a Gullah spiritual. Gullah is that English-African Creole dialect
spoken on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia. The word
means, literally, "come by here". The song is a supplication
to the Lord to be with us - to "come by here".
I can think of no more fitting request in a time at which we consider
the challenges with which we as a nation must face in the coming days
and weeks. I pray that our nation’s leaders will ask before
they act, "Kumbayah, Lord, Kumbayah!"
