This Friday folks from All Saints Honolulu and folks from Saint Benedict Hall (and folks whose families span both worlds) will gather to spend a little over an hour together in song and fellowship. It’s also the eve of the day that we remember King David Kalākaua, the “Merrie Monarch” who brought back to Hawaii much in the way of song and dance. In an age such as ours we are justified in asking why we might spend a Friday night this way. With all the digital technology to render private listening “as good or better” than in-person singing we are often tempted to think that the goal of music is to be heard. But that is a cheating lie, it only tells a half truth. The goal of music is not only to be heard, the goal of music is also to be made. Just as there is a joy in baking as much as there is in eating cake, so also there is a joy in singing as much as there is in hearing song.

There is a series of days which exists in the Church’s calendar which has all but disappeared from the Christian calendars of contemporary American Christianity save for one lingering event: trick-or-treating on Halloween.