The biggest story in the local media this weekend has been the Hawaii visit of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu who is here at the invitation of The Very Rev. Walter Brownridge of St. Andrew’s Cathedral. The airwaves and print media have been flooded with stories about this special visitor and it seems everyone has a Desmond Tutu story.

There were four public events, including two church services at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, an interview with public television’s Leslie Wilcox and a lecture. But there were several other non-public events to which we have been involved.

For me, it was on Friday when Archbishop Tutu was the homilist at Morning Prayer at Iolani School where I am the Chapel Organist. I had heard that one of his favorite pieces was Bach’s Jesu, joy of man’s desiring, so that was what I played as the prelude. In addition to the prelude, I also played three hymns: Surely it is God who saves me (Thomas Merton); Tell out my soul (Birmingham) and All things bright and beautiful (Royal Oak). I played Dale Wood’s joyful setting of All things bright and beautiful as the postlude. Everything in the service went like clockwork and there were no glitches except for the fact that the Tutus came in about ten minutes due to traffic. Archbishop Tutu talked about today’s youth and how they are God’s gift to us as our future.

Today Carl Crosier is conducting a small faculty choir in a special service at St. Andrew’s Priory. And wherever Carl is, there is bound to be food, so he is helping to fix a special luncheon today for the Tutus and about thirty other people. Last night he stuffed nearly 80 lychees and this morning he was up early, cutting up pineapple, papaya and melons.