I never was good in math. Which, I like to say, is why I became a pastor. Part of my problem with arithmetic, with the “new math” as they were calling it when I went through elementary school, was that when it was time to switch subjects (from art, or music, or spelling, or language, or recess) and begin to think about things mathematical, I simply tuned out or — as often was the case — began to converse (quietly and seemingly-subtly) with my neighbor-next-desk-over. Consequently, I got low marks in math and high marks in needless chatter in the classroom.  The low point came early on it seems, when in the second grade, I was not paying attention on the day that Mrs. Kimball’s lesson plan was to explain those dull, boring and altogether-uninteresting symbols of the-then “higher math,” called the “greater than” and “less than” signs.

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