Kum Ba Yah

Michelle Shocked shares the following lyrics in her song "Holy Spirit" based on the hymn
 Kum Ba Yah:
Oh a twilight time in New York City
Descending subway stairs
The man whistling out a tune
I paid a dollar for my fare
And we got on the same train
Going uptown down the tracks
And we sang out of tune
To the clackety-clack-clack
And the Spirit Holy Spirit was flowing
Yeah the Spirit Holy Spirit it was a-flowing
I have felt it on a mountaintop
And underneath the stars
I felt it in a churchyard
And even in some bars
It will make you laugh
It will make you cry
It will make your heart go (ping!)
Oh the Spirit Holy Spirit
Will make you shout and want to sing
Come by here Lord, oh come by here

In Ephesians 2:19-20 we are reminded that as we wander individually on this great planet, like sheep in a field, we also wander together.
     "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself the cornerstone."
      Kum Ba Yah is an old familiar hymn but some of you may remember it best as being sung around a campfire while roasting marshmallows.  I imagine for many the memories of singing this song stop before reaching the age of adulthood. 
     I find it ironic that the words asking God to come by here because someone is crying, someone is praying, someone needs you, and someone is singing may be thought of as children's lyrics.
     Calling out to God to join us in each other's sorrows, struggles, prayers and joys are actions of a mature faith. Imagine walking through the day and calling on God for our neighbor, for a stranger and even our enemies.  Imagine knowing that someone was doing the same for you.
      Certainly this knowledge could cause us, citizens with the saints who have gone before us, to praise God, praise God now.....Oh Lord come by here!