Launchpad Studio Baltimore

Most of us know the song Kumbaya, and that it originated in the fields, sung by people in the midst of trying to navigate a life of enslavement and bo***ge. When I was little my grandmother would sing it as she pitter-pattered around the house (it wasn’t unusual for her or my grandfather to break into song at any given moment). Her version included the usual stanza of Kumbaya, with the addition of the English translation “come by here my Lord”. I never knew what language Kumbaya was, or how she came to know the translation and I never questioned it, but in recent years I’ve learned that this beautifully written heart felt song has its origins in Hebrew. Not only did enslaved people know Our Father, the creator of the heavens and the earth, but they knew Him enough to call Him by the name He gave Himself, when he was reintroducing Himself to His people. How completely amazing is that!

My favorite game to play as a child was “make believe”! I was so good at it lol! I would create whole worlds in my imagination, so vibrant and so vivid that I could easily draw my friends in and we’d play, fully and completely in that world. Even though it was imaginary I still established rules for me and my playmates. If you came into my make believe world then any additional elements introduced by your imagination had to be in complete agreement with mine and as we as we added more and more the the story of our world we didn’t stop at simply thinking it but instead acted that thing out. Back then I knew what it meant to believe. I knew that action was required and that even in the full expanse of my imagination still there were rules and even imaginary truths that had to be followed. However, somehow as an adult I lost that understanding. I have always prided myself on being a “Believer” but I though that it was enough just double down on my certainty that His Word was true. I thought that belief was simply hoping hard enough, but Scripture says something completely different. It tells us not to be hearer only but also doers of The Word so that we don’t deceive ourselves! In doing The Word we make our belief evident and receive the favor of The Most High so that we can live a life of intention and purpose and do so without reproach.