Plenary, 01 Dec 1999

Meeting date: Wednesday, December 1, 1999

Official Report 559KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

I welcome Professor Donald Macleod of the Free Church of Scotland, who will lead our time for reflection today.

Thank you for your kind welcome. Let us bow our heads in prayer.

Our Father in heaven, in you there is peace and calmness, serenity and silence. In us, there is often dispeace and destruction, anxiety and harassment. Enable us now to look up, to see you and to see ourselves and our problems in terms of your perspective.

We give thanks to you, O Lord, for Scottish democracy. We thank you for this Parliament and for all who thought and acted it into being. We bless you for its openness and accountability and for the integrity of all who serve in it and who serve it as officers. We bless you for the power given to this Parliament and we pray that those who serve will have the grace to use that power in accordance with your mind.

Remember, Lord, all of us who have power—preachers, journalists and politicians. May we feel a keen sense of responsibility and may we use that power on behalf of those who have no power. May we speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.

We remember you thus: the God, who, in Jesus Christ, let yourself be pushed out of the world on to the cross. You looked at reality through the eyes of an outsider and of the homeless and of the world's poor. You have known our pain, our fear and the bitter taste of death. You have commanded us, as the God of compassion, to remember the poor. We remember them, Lord, this day before you.

May each of us in our sphere and capacity use our power in the interests of the homeless, the rough sleepers, the elderly and the victims of crime, drug addiction, alcohol, sexual abuse, domestic violence and discrimination. May we never use that power without sensitivity. May we use it never for ourselves, but only for the sake of others.

Give us confidence, Lord—not least in this great new institution—in the possibility of change. Although often what we can do is but small, may we know the power of little. May we know that the aggregate of a large number of small changes will lead to a more just, more compassionate and more inclusive society.

Our Lord, the world is so big and we are so small; the problems so huge in comparison to our vision, imagination, intellect, and resources that it is often beyond our powers to handle them. Give us humility in the face of those awesome challenges.

We will learn, Lord, not to despair, but to cry for help. In that sense of dependence and of our finitude, we ask that we may address the tasks of this day and of this week.

May grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit rest upon and abide with each one of you now and everlastingly. Amen.