Josè had learned another lesson. Again that little hand had softly swept his harp of life. And again he breathed in unison with its vibrating chords a deep “Thank God!”
“Padre dear.” Carmen looked up from a brown study. “What does zero really mean?”
“It stands for nothing, child,” the priest made reply, wondering what was to follow this introduction.
“And the minus sign in algebra is different from the one in arithmetic. What does it mean?”
“Less than nothing.”
“But, Padre, if God is all, how can you say there is nothing, or less than nothing?”
The priest had his answer ready. “They are only human ways of thinking, chiquita. The plus sign always represents something positive; the minus, something negative. The one is the opposite of the other.”
“Is there an opposite to everything, Padre?”
The priest hesitated. Then:
“No, chiquita––not a real opposite. But,” he added hastily, “we may suppose an opposite to everything.”