The Spires of Renewal

PRAGUE - A dominant feature of Prague is the Gothic tower of the Cathedral of St. Vitus, St. Wenceslas and St. Adalbert. That tower is now wrapped in scaffolding because – for the first time ever and, so to speak, at the eleventh hour – it is being renovated. Temporarily, the scaffold conceals the tower’s beauty. That concealment, however, is designed to preserve this beauty forever.

Perhaps this scaffolding serves as an analogy for all postcommunist countries. If some of our best features are not quite visible for the time being, it is because our societies are covered by scaffolding as they undergo reconstruction, striving anew – this time in complete freedom – to rediscover and restore our true identities.

Perhaps this analogy should also be applied even more generally, in the hope that, behind some of the unsightly features of today's world, seeds of an endeavor to save, preserve and creatively develop the values offered to us by the history of nature and the human race can be found.