Ever since my mid-thirties, I have had serious digestive problems. I have seen a few doctors, even specialists, to no avail.

A number of years ago, I became determined to to say a word of thanks to God every time before I ate. As near as I can tell, it didn’t help the digestion at all. Even so, I still give thanks, though I must admit I have forgotten a few times. I do it because I feel it is the right thing to do. It is not nearly as much as my Lord deserves. Moreover, I think it has helped to change my frame of mind. I have learned a few things.

I no longer have such a tendency to take things for granted. I am thankful also to the farmers, the truck drivers and the grocers. I am careful to thank the crew in every restaurant I visit and I make sure they know I mean it. I am even more thankful for the police that provide us protection and I am even thankful when I am ticketed, just maybe not as much. After all, they do have a thankless job, which in a way, isolates them from the rest of us…almost as much as a preacher.

However, one day, seemingly out of the blue, my doctor told me to start taking Tums. Considering my digestive problems are now almost gone, I wonder just how much one thing has to do with the other. Just maybe I need to thank God for what that doctor told me. I don’t know. Sometimes God does things for us and we don’t even know it.

Just maybe one of the most important things we can learn is giving thanks, first to God and then to others.