Hey, Bill:

A near mystical experience I was reminded of by your memory of the young girl singing Go Tell It On The Mountain...

Many years ago, at the lowest point in my life, I was walking down a city street in the middle of the day. I was very depressed, and couldn't see any way forward in my life. I was walking along, shoulders slumped, gazing at the sidewalk, when I heard this voice. It was a young girl, maybe nine or ten years old, and she was coming toward me, skipping down the sidewalk with her hair flying, totally consumed by her singing. As she passed me she smiled and kept on singing.

The song she was singing was A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. It never occurred to me that you could skip to it. I was so taken aback by it, that I turned around and looked behind me to see if I had imagined her, and the street was empty.

A couple of months later, I was walking down that same street, fueled by a little, tentative hope and I remembered that little girl. I was at the same spot where I saw her, and just as I was saying to myself, "This is where she was singing A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, the Carrilon in the church a block away started playing... A Mighty Fortress Is Our God..

Still gives me the chills, remembering it.

Jerry