Keynote Address at the Grand Opening of the Church of Scientology New York (cont.)
Well,
what more need be said? New York is the greatest city on
earth.Yet
even that doesn't say it all. Rather, this one is special for another reason. Because, what we are bringing to New York
Scientologists today, with this new church, is what you inspired across the rest of the world three years ago. In fact, it
can be said in a single phrase that now drives a global movement
bringing hope and salvation to millions, world over.
For
in the darkest of times and worst of places, you stood tall amongst
it all, as a shining beacon of light, proclaiming in action that: SOMETHING CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT.
So yes, on this day
there is much cause for celebration. Yet that cause is not so much
for what we have achieved in the past but, in reality, what we may
now accomplish in the future.
For
when we cut the ribbon, we do not just celebrate this new monument,
but how this monument will then serve as a center and as a home to bring
the help this world so desperately needs.
Which is to say, for
all the time and effort, of so many fine and caring individuals,
working through the past year to create this new church, it is but a
backdrop to today's opening where the real work begins.
Today we are at a
watershed in history. At stake are whether the ideals we cherish will
survive or some new abhorrent set of values win the day. And if that
decline had been evident throughout the past century, it continues
unabated into this new one.
The events of September
11th served as a "wake-up call" for all of us.
When
one must worry in today's modern world about the safety of its
citizens, when one's solutions are limited to the use of military
might, it is obvious the problems we face run much deeper. It's a
situation none of us can ignore. They are conditions we all must face. They are problems we all must be responsible for helping
to resolve.
Yet, look around the world today speak to people and you will hear: "But what can I do about it? I'm just me."
