By the time you read this you will notice that the altar is decked in green, as it will be through-out the summer, unless a festival falls on a Sunday. This year September 29th falls on a Sunday; that’s the feast of St. Michael and All Angels. The assigned color is white.

The hymns in Lutheran Service Book are not about us, and very seldom about our feelings and wants. Our hymns lift up the Gospel of Jesus Christ and set our sights on heaven. That’s as it should be.

Christ Is Risen I was once a naïve freshman at Concordia College, New York. Back from Easter break everyone was shouting, “Christ is risen.” It was as if a verbal case of measles gone rogue. Someone kindly explained it to me.