May 28, 1981

''The era of self-doubt is over. We've stopped looking at our warts and rediscovered how much there is to love in this blessed land.''

The White House announced today that President Reagan's special envoy, Philip C. Habib, was returning from the Middle East for consultations on what the United States should do next in trying to avert an Israeli-Syrian clash over the stationing of Syrian missiles in Lebanon. For the moment, officials said, the main diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation are being left to Saudi Arabia. Although Mr. Habib's three weeks of traveling among Israel, Syria and Lebanon and his visit to Saudi Arabia did not end the crisis, Mr. Reagan and his aides took the position publicly that the mission so far had been a success because war did not break out between Israel and Syria. Begin Warns on Syrian Moves As Mr. Habib left Israel, Prime Minister Menachem Begin said Syria had mobilized reserves and deployed more antiaircraft missiles on its territory. But he said Israel would support further diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis, indicating that he would continue to withhold any order for Israeli forces to strike at the missiles. (Page A3.)

Legislation that would give cable television companies the power to refuse to broadcast ''patently offensive'' sexually explicit or violent programs on their channels was introduced here today. The measure was intended to give the cable companies greater control over what appears on their ''public access'' channels - channels they are required under their franchises with New York and other cities to make available at minimal charge to anyone who requests time. These channels have often been used, particularly in New York City, to present shows of a sexual nature.

A Marine electronic combat aircraft crashed on the flight deck of the carrier Nimitz off the northern coast of Florida late last night and plowed forward, erupting into a ball of fire that killed 14 men, destroyed three fighters and damaged 16 other aircraft. Navy spokesmen said that 45 sailors had been injured and that the accident might have been the worst in peacetime in the history of naval aviation. Twenty-one injured persons, mostly suffering burns, were taken by helicopter to a naval hospital in Jacksonville, 60 miles away. The flight deck of the carrier sustained little damage, the Navy spokesman said, and there was no damage to the ship's nuclear propulsion system. The ship was headed back to her home port in Norfolk, Va., where she was scheduled to arrive midday Thursday.

With New York City's upstate reservoirs at their highest levels in nearly a year, the Koch administration yesterday relaxed its water restrictions. Warm-weather activities such as watering lawns and filling private swimming pools will now be permitted. The administration also announced that despite a ban on opening fire hydrants except for firefighting, it would soon distribute 3,000 to 5,000 spray caps for hydrants in neighborhoods that are not near parks. The number of spray caps is smaller than the total normally handed out during the summer, but it apparently was a concession to urban reality, especially on hot days in poorer sections of the city.