Plenary, 01 Jun 2000

Meeting date: Thursday, June 1, 2000

Official Report 617KB pdf

---

Time for Reflection

I welcome Captain Christopher Connelly of the Salvation Army.

Recently I read something about the 1969 moon landing that started off a train of thought. I was 14 when, with my family and millions of others around the world, I watched on television Neil Armstrong being the first man to walk on the surface of the moon. I remember his immortal words—which were given to him by his son before he set off on that historic journey. As he stepped on to the lunar surface, he said:

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Although he was one man stepping on the moon's surface, he was there as a result of teamwork on a massive scale, over a long period.

No one could deny that co-operation is a good thing—it is essential. It is the key to relationships, at home, in the workplace and, dare I suggest, here in the Scottish Parliament. Churches in Scotland are learning to work together. They co-operate with each other on a regular basis, promoting a wider acceptance of each other's role in society and respect for differing views. God has made each of us individuals with individual gifts and talents. When we come together in any sphere, co-operation is essential for the good of the whole.

The early Church had to be made aware of that and, writing to the Church at Corinth, Paul said:

"The body is a unit though it is made up of many parts . . . So it is with Christ for we were all baptised by one spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free . . . The body is not made up of one part but of many . . . God has arranged the parts in the body just as he wanted them to be. . . God has combined the members of the body . . . so that there should be no division in the body but that its parts should have equal concern for each other . . . You are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it."

Those people had to learn the lesson that we must all learn—to co-operate, as members of a team, recognising that together everyone achieves more.

The words of Martin Luther King are as true today as they have always been when he said:

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."

With those broader concerns always in mind, let us work together in a spirit of co-operation.

Let us pray together.

Father God, we come to you today representing many differing parts of a diverse community. Our individual responsibilities may differ, Lord, but we ask that in all that we do we may work together for the greater good of all. Bless the work of this Parliament as its members seek to serve the people of our nation. In Jesu's name I pray. Amen.