When the poet Matthew Arnold stood on Dover Beach listening to the melancholy, long withdrawing roar that announced to his ears the ebbing of the sea of faith, he could have found hope and reassurance here in the Village of Floral Park.

Since this will be published between Easter and Passover, I find it fitting to attest that I've seen the power of faith in our village in so many benevolent and fruitful ways. Over the years, I've attended ecumenical prayer services for Thanksgiving, in remembrance of the victims of 9/11 and on many other noteworthy and significant occasions.

I believe our houses of worship are a compelling force for good and a source of strength in our community. I have come to know that behind the veil of every soul there exists a quest for meaning, for transcendence beyond the commonplace, a purpose that overarches the chaos and confusion of the world. It may not crowd the day, but that yearning is always there, perhaps felt more than heard, sensed more than seen but nonetheless a feeling that is harbored deep in the folds of our hearts or in that unspoken silence below the surface of our consciousness.

I'm so saddened to see religious faith by some of our most celebrated thinkers being mocked as just another superstitious indulgence of the untutored and unenlightened masses. The journalist Christopher Hitchens (Why God Is not Great) and the scientist Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) have used their abundant intellectual gifts and literary craftsmanship to attack people's religious beliefs with such rhetorical venom and bitterness as to leave everyone wounded and bleeding.

According to their lights, no belief is worthwhile unless it can be demonstrated in the language of science. I cannot accept such a cramped, unventilated explanation. While Darwin's natural selection is a fact of staggering power and elegance that explains much of what is true about the organization of the world, it's not the whole truth. There is something about a human being that is so intrinsically mysterious possessing, as it does, an abiding but ineffable quality so radically different from all of creation that its essence, its ultimate truth, is, and I suspect always will be, elusively beyond the reach of science and evolution.

But this isn't a plea for belief in God; nor is it a cry to take a sledgehammer to Thomas Jefferson's famous "Wall of Separation" as if it were the Berlin Wall circa 1991. As an elected official, I'm the mayor of all our residents: the believers, the non-believers and the undecided. My interest is only to promote our civic health and wholesomeness, which is more easily lost than imagined.

I'm convinced, however, that religious faith not only invites a broader vision regarding our obligations to community life but it also ennobles the rituals of our democracy as well. The evils of slavery and the movement toward civil rights that could not find an audience in the august halls of Congress, found resonance and moral clarity in our nation's churches and then, under the informal auspices of democratic expression, in our neighborhoods, cities and hamlets throughout the land.

Locally, I've witnessed those moved by religious faith, almost uniquely, to rise above the suppressing power of selfishness as it summons the devout, and the steadfast, to works of charity, kindness and love for our fellow man. To embrace these ideals is the supreme act of good citizenship.

The writer G.K. Chesterton thought of America as a country with the soul of a church. I would like to think of Floral Park in the same vein, not in a denominational sense, of course, but as a bridge of spiritual unity. And, I know of no surer way for a community to cohere, to foster the bonds of fraternity and to recognize the immense holiness of life than that which comes from the humanizing influence of religious faith.

We are observing our hundredth year as an incorporated village with a series of events that includes a fireworks display, a parade and a centennial ball. But all our celebratory milestones do not have to be ushered in with bombast and exaltation; we can also show reverence for our achievement by observing a day of thanksgiving and prayer.

I call then upon our religious leaders to come together and sanctify our Centennial year by setting aside a day for an ecumenical service so that we may solemnly offer, as a community, prayers of gratitude for our abundant blessings and to humbly petition the guiding hand of Providence as we sail into the uncharted future.

With every confidence that this will have a salutary effect, let us reflect on the poetic wisdom of the Psalmist: "Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

I recently learned that Matt Cohen, Senator Charles Schumer's young, dedicated and charismatic Long Island representative is leaving Senator Schumer's office. Matt, who has been a warm and helpful friend to the Village of Floral Park, has assumed the responsibilities of the director of government relations at LIPA.

Trustee Mary-Grace Tomecki and I first met Matt at my office in Village Hall in May of 2007, at which time we discussed the impact of noise generated from both airplane and helicopter traffic. From the outset, Matt endeared himself to us with his intelligence, energy and enthusiasm. And, it is a credit to Matt that Floral Park's voice resonated so strongly in the recent agreement that Senator Schumer brokered with the Eastern Regional Helicopter Council, which created the North Shore water route to reduce the incidence of helicopter traffic over residential communities.

Thank you, Matt, for all your hard work on behalf of the Village of Floral Park, your interest in human nature and lending us a sympathetic ear on a critical and important issue for our residents. Congratulations and best wishes as you embark on a new and exciting career.