Plenary, 01 Oct 2008

Meeting date: Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Official Report 383KB pdf

---

Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is the Rev Robert Pickles, from Orwell and Portmoak parish church.

Good afternoon.

We all need cohesion in the soul. I am not going to give you some false truths about how great and wonderful you are, or the positivism that says that you must love yourselves, which we all buy into—and the resulting guilt that it brings. That does not give us the freedom that we desire as we meet ourselves in the boiling cauldron of public service, whether we are a member of the Scottish Parliament, a minister or a minister of religion.

We are chosen by the unwilling to do the impossible—especially at the moment. We face costly decisions with small resources. We are asked to fulfil the agendas of others, simply to empower them and not to solve the problem.

How can integrity be maintained in the midst of all this? What is love in all this? This afternoon, I want to give you a definition of love that has freedom for the tired person written all through it. This is not the love that is so sweet that it will make your teeth fall out. This love is simply the decision to act for the wellbeing of another, whether you like them or not.

Let the implications of that extend your thoughts. Maybe some of you are realising at this point that you still love your partner in life, because you do not wish him or her harm but seek their wellbeing—even after 20 years. You may—shockingly—understand that you care deeply about that difficult constituency member, who is more than intolerably unpleasant and needs to get a life. You may be realising that you love your country because you want its wellbeing.

You may choose to apply that thinking to things that you do not like about yourself as you look in the mirror. I know that you, with other politicians, abound in the belief that you are marvellous and can do anything—or that is what we must believe about you. I want to address the true you, who is there when you are alone.

If you want your own wellbeing, you may truly love yourself and absolve the disagreeable parts of you, without the stress of sweet-hearted American psychology.

May the peace of the earth be with you
The peace of valleys too
May the peace of the oceans be with you
The peace of the rivers too
Deep peace falling over you
God's peace growing in you.