Roger Meyer

In the coming weeks, tens of millions of children the world over will be getting ready to dress up in strange costumes and scary-faced masks to go door to door and beg for candy treats by saying, "Trick or treat!" At the same time, teens and adults are also getting ready to attend parties and gatherings to celebrate this strange holiday by donning costumes that are ghoulish, bizarre, or risqué.

Most people don't realize it, but their religion is a blend of paganism and Christianity. Is that a good thing? Does it make any difference to God that at least part of one's beliefs and practices came from a pagan religion?

Every news source has been covering the hot topic of the WikiLeaks exposure of government secrets. The leaks of diplomatic cables are of unflattering and insulting statements about leaders and politicians of other nations. The diplomatic face of the United States government is now blushing in embarrassment and fumbling for words to try to control the damage.

Why does our nation continue to trip and fall in front of the other nations of the world? Why did this happen?

We've all had the unfortunate experience of doing something for someone and never hearing a simple "thank you" in return. It makes us feel sad, perhaps a little hurt or even a little angry, when we have really gone out of our way to help someone. We may think, "How dare they not appreciate what I did for them!" Google the words "un-thankfulness" or "ungrateful people" or "ingratitude" and you'll get hundreds of thousands to millions of results.

Apparently, it's all too common.

Are you "well-read"? Have you read "the classics" by Plato, Homer, Chaucer—or books by famous authors like Austen, Bronte, Dickens, Hemingway, Shakespeare, etc.? Did you read the books on your high school summer reading list? Have you read the books listed in the New York Times best sellers list? What is the most important book you could read?