No Matter How You Slice It

Several years ago, a reader wrote the following “Letter to the Editor” of a British newspaper:

Dear Sir, I notice that preachers seem to set a great deal of importance on their sermons, and spend a great deal of time preparing them. I have been going to Church quite regularly over the past thirty years and, during that time, if I estimate correctly, I have listened to no less than three thousand sermons. But, to my dismay, I have discovered that I cannot remember a single one of them. I wonder if the preacher’s time might be more profitably spent on something else?

The letter evoked a deluge of varied responses until the following message arrived and ended the debate:

Dear Sir, I have been married for thirty years. During this time, I ate more than thirty thousand meals, mostly of my wife’s cooking. Suddenly I have discovered that I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. And yet, I received nourishment from every…