Remarks at a Special Church Service in Honolulu.

Reverend Akaka and all of those present at this thanksgiving and worship service today:

It is indeed a very great honor for me to be here for two reasons: one, because, as you know, when we learned of the safe return of our astronauts, I asked that the Nation observe a National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving today. We had scheduled in the White House today one of our White House worship services, and I had to postpone that because I could not quite get back to Washington for that service.

I wanted to attend a service, and it seemed to me that the most appropriate service to attend in Hawaii was in this great church, with all of its history that is here, and also knowing from my wife, who has been here with our two daughters, what a truly fine place of worship it is, and also having in mind the fact that today, at the next service, your regular service, you will be commemorating the 150th anniversary of Christianity in this State, what was then these islands.

And so, I am privileged to be here, first, as President of the United States, in my official capacity, and, second, as one who recognizes the enormous historical event that you will be commemorating in just an hour.

I would like to say just one further word with regard to the event that we have all been watching over this past week. We think of it in terms of the technological problems. We think of it in terms of the fact that brave men returned to earth, not only because of their own bravery, but because of the great courage and skill and ability of the men on the ground.

I think also this event reminded us of other things we sometimes forget. It reminded us that machines, no matter how very perfect they may be developed, sometimes can develop troubles, and then people count.

It reminded us also of the fact that in this Nation we have men and women of great character and strength--character and strength that comes through when they are in trouble. We think of these very great troubles that our astronauts faced with such courage.

Let us also remember that there are people all over this land who, in their daily lives, face troubles that in their own way perhaps may be as great. But that what really counts is not how well a person does when things go well, but how he reacts when he faces tragedy or the possibility of tragedy. And here we all shared it.

We are also reminded of something else, of the true brotherhood of man. There are great political differences that divide the world today. There are very deep ideological differences that divide the world today, but when it has learned that these men were in danger, there poured into the White House from all over the world messages from the Communist countries and the non-Communist countries, from people of various religions, saying that they wished their best, offering their assistance; and when they learned that they were back, there was an outpouring of relief and rejoicing from people, regardless of their political or religious differences.

What does this mean? It means that wherever people live in this world, wherever they are, that they value human life and they thought of these three men not as Americans, but as human beings, courageous men, and they wanted them to be saved.

If only we could think in that way about every individual on this earth, we could truly have a world of peace.

Finally, I would say to Reverend Akaka, on this occasion that you celebrated the 150th anniversary of Christianity, that this event reminded us that in these days of growing materialism, deep down there is still a great religious faith in this Nation.

I think more people prayed last week than perhaps have prayed in many years in this country, and the very fact that they did indicates that the religious strength of this country, something we often take for granted, and something that sometimes, particularly now, seems to be weakening in some areas, that it is there in times of trouble. Let us remember that if we turn to spiritual help, if we pray for the assistance of God when we were faced with this very great potential tragedy and this great trouble, let us remember we have come a long way in this country because we have had faith in God.

Let us not forget it again. Let us remember that the future will be better if we continue that faith, develop it in great churches like this, Sunday after Sunday, day after day.