August 31, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Monday, August 31.
I’m writing today’s devotion from one of my favorite cities, New Orleans. It’s a place that combines history and music and food - three of my favorite things! I’ve had the pleasure of coming here about 20 times over the years, and I always take a moment to go to the great St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square in the French Quarter, the church with the three spires that overlooks the Mississippi River. I went to the service there yesterday morning and it was beautiful and inspiring. In all my visits to the Big Easy, this was the first trip that included a Sunday. But it wasn’t the first mass that I attended in New Orleans. That occurred on Tuesday, August 29, 2006. The one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
I decided to attend the first anniversary ceremony that year at the cathedral, as did President George W. Bush (we traveled separately). The 300-year-old church seats about a thousand people, and it was standing room only on that hot summer morning. Leaders from across the country, the state, and the community were in attendance, plus a lot of locals, first responders, and ordinary visitors like me. The service was basically a time of prayer, spoken and silent, remembering the lost (1400 souls) and the rebuilding (200 billion in damage).
There was lots of music. Some pieces, by Bach and Mozart, that you’d expect in a cathedral. And some music, black gospel and jazz, that you’d expect in New Orleans. And then the service was ending and there was one more song. A song by a Jewish composer from New York. A song that always appears whenever our country faces war or crisis or tragedy. It was a song appropriate for that day, twenty years ago this weekend, in New Orleans. A song appropriate for any day. Sing it again this morning.
God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above
From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America, my home sweet home
God bless America, my home sweet home
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
