Hannah Arendt wrote beautifully about the notion of the “New Man.” Thomas Merton wrote of the New Man as well, a man who sought humility, kindness and generosity and who was connected to his friends and family. He sought a spiritual life, valued creativity and the life of the mind and worked hard to understand the fear that men have sometimes spawned in the world. And to use his gifts to life people up.

I love this ideal of the New Man, a hard thing to acheive but something I aspire to.

Tonight, heading to New York City. We are going to the opera with Maria’s mom, a lifelong opera lover. She is excited, so are we. I think when you do things for other people, you are almost always doing something for yourself. Generosity is a selfish act, and no less valuable for that. Back tomorrow morning.