Roger Meyer

I well remember that one of my high school teachers would often announce a pop quiz at the beginning of class: “Put your books and papers under your seat, and place only a pen or pencil on your desk.” When this happened, we all knew that we were about to find out if we really knew the subject matter.

All of us have had our education, knowledge, and skills tested in numerous ways throughout our lives. Testing is a means of objective assessment. As long as the testing instrument is not flawed, testing is a means of fair determination.

Christ is called the Prince of Peace. Jesus Christ preached peace. Many think that He came to bring peace on Earth. But, right up to present times, no true or lasting peace can be found. There is only continuous war. Did Christ fail in His mission to bring peace to this world?

Many have read the famous words foretelling the birth of Jesus Christ: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Most children have taken a magnifying glass and used the power of concentrated sunlight to burn leaves or paper or have fried an egg on a sidewalk heated by the summer sun. Light is very powerful.

Do you control your thoughts? It can be more difficult than you think. Where do thoughts come from, and what do you do with your thoughts?

Reading scientific definitions of thought is not very enlightening. Thought is intangible, like light and magnetism. We know thought exists, but what is it? We have ideas, opinions, memories, feelings, and emotions, all of which we ascribe to the mind and heart.

Many are familiar with the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, which portrays an enemy called the Borg, a collective of cyborgs linked to a central controlling “hive” seeking to assimilate all lifeforms. Their ultimatum is, “You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.” Of course, the protagonists of the series do resist the Borg, and resistance is an absolute necessity in many areas of real life—it is not futile.