\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, I saw your kid on TV!\u201d<\/p>\n
The voice reached me from behind as I walked down the corridor of my Scientology Church. During the split second that elapsed between hearing the voice and turning around to see its source, the thought flashed: \u201cThat sounds familiar, but is it anyone I know?\u201d<\/p>\n
Then I saw who it was:\u00a0David Miscavige<\/a>, ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion. He was smiling broadly. \u201cIt was on a commercial during a Lakers game! It was\u00a0hilarious<\/em>! I laughed my head off!\u201d<\/p>\n Here David Miscavige was, a person I\u2019d never had a conversation with, had only seen from a distance of 35 rows, give or take, from audience to stage, whose 24\/7 job is protecting, preserving and expanding a religious movement involving\u00a0millions<\/a>\u00a0of parishioners and 11,000 Churches, Missions and groups spanning some 170 countries, taking the time to tell me he\u2019d seen my kid in a 15-second commercial on television and how much he liked it.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you,\u201d I said, and took his offered hand.<\/p>\n \u201cYou guys must be\u00a0pumped!<\/em>\u201d he grinned, shaking my hand. And then\u2014with a wave and a salute\u2014he was\u00a0off.<\/p>\n For the next few minutes, my friends and I watched as the woman spoke and spoke and spoke some more, David Miscavige and the other executives listening intently.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cHow does he do that?\u201d I wondered. Yet he did. He recognized me, knew who I was, knew who my kid was. He must have looked up the young man, found that he was from a Scientologist family and made a point of stopping me in the hall and letting me know what a great thing it all was. Then, during our brief interchange, he made me feel like I was the only person in the world and that it was the high point of his day to stop and congratulate me on my kid\u2019s acting performance in a television commercial.<\/p>\n Another time I was dining with friends at a restaurant on board\u00a0the\u00a0Freewinds<\/a><\/em>\u00a0religious retreat. It was a special convention and many ministers and executives of the Church were in attendance. A rather, shall we say, garrulous woman sitting next to me suddenly cried, \u201cLook! There they are!\u201d Following the direction of her pointed finger, we saw David Miscavige dining at a table with Church executives and local dignitaries.<\/p>\n Before I could shush her, she got up saying, \u201cThere\u2019s something I REALLY NEED to go over with them, and I\u2019m going to talk to them RIGHT NOW.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, no! They\u2019re probably busy discussing\u2026\u201d I began, but she was already on her way to the table.<\/p>\n Peering through closed fingers, I saw an astonishing sight:\u00a0David Miscavige<\/a>\u00a0spotted the woman approaching and instantly stood up, followed promptly by the other six or seven people at the table. Mr. Miscavige pulled an empty chair from another table as the others made room, and invited her to have a seat next to him, then waited for her to be seated before resuming his seat.<\/p>\n For the next few minutes, my friends and I watched as the woman spoke and spoke and spoke some more, David Miscavige and the other executives listening intently. When she had finished speaking, he replied at length\u2014to her apparent satisfaction\u2014shook hands with her, then rose as she rose and bowed slightly to her as she left, not resuming his seat again until she was completely clear of the table and on her way back to us.<\/p>\n \u201cWell!\u201d she said, sitting back down with us. \u201cI\u2019m VERY glad I spoke to him. It\u2019s much better now.\u201d<\/p>\n Neither I nor anyone else asked her what \u201cit\u201d was. We were confident, however, that David Miscavige could not only make whatever concerned the woman better but that, as leader of our religion and an extraordinary gentleman, he could make anything he touched not just better, but first-rate\u2014and do so with effortless effectiveness.<\/p>\n Scientology Founder\u00a0L.\u00a0Ron\u00a0Hubbard<\/a>\u00a0wrote, \u201cWhen one is lucky enough to get to meet and talk to the men and women who are at the top of their professions, one is struck by an observation often made that they are just about the nicest people you ever met. That is one of the reasons they are at the top: they try, most of them, to treat others well.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ve long been familiar with that quote. It\u2019s from\u00a0The Way to Happiness<\/a><\/em>, a nonreligious moral code based on common sense that swiftly inspired an international movement reaching millions on how to live a rich and ethical life. And though I know that passage by heart, rarely, if ever, have I seen it in action.<\/p>\n In a world too often immersed in self-importance and intolerance of others, it\u2019s comforting to know there is a\u00a0David Miscavige<\/a>\u00a0among us\u2014driven only by a purpose to help others and focused on the greatest good\u2014a remarkable leader who routinely makes decisions that affect continents, yet who cares enough to share the joys of one proud father like me.<\/p>\n By John Evans, originally published on STAND<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n