I’ve been in New York this week… I was able to get a flight roundtrip from Berlin for 300 Euros.

Since Daniel (our son-in-law) was here to read a paper, it seemed like a good opportunity to reconnect with friends and possible “Haus Nazareth” contacts here… and pick up a replacement for my dying laptop (RIP).

There are so many connections between Berlin and New York, especially in the arts and creative worlds. One NY gallery owner said: “Half of the artists I know are either in Berlin or want to be!”

I’m currently staying with our good friends, Roy and Laura De Young at their home out in New Jersey. You can see the skyline of Manhatten from their back porch! (But it is bitter cold in the eastern U.S.; I’m looking forward to getting back to Berlin to warm up!)

As Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent) comes up this next week, I wanted to share with you a “prayer” by T.S. Eliot in his poem (appropriately titled) “Ash Wednesday”:

“Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still.”

Pascal wrote that most of the problems in the world come from people not being able to enjoy sitting still in their own home…