Plenary, 02 Sep 2009
Meeting date: Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Official Report
757KB pdf
Time for Reflection
Good morning. The first item of business is time for reflection, and our time for reflection leader today is the Rev David Cameron.
The Rev David Cameron (Queensferry Parish Church, South Queensferry):
Presiding Officer, members of Parliament, friends: what is in a name? Quite a lot, I guess, given that this morning a fair number of folks present might have been a little excited at the prospect of one David Cameron speaking to the Scottish Parliament. For some of you, then, disappointment; for others, perhaps, a blessed relief.
That got me to thinking about the impact and the importance of our name. I guess that I am the last person who needs to remind you good people of how our name tarnished results in our work diminished. This Parliament, though only 10 years old, has made a bit of a name for itself. Today, as you move into its second decade, I would like to draw your attention to the four foundational values that the Parliament aspires to be known for: wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity.
We do not need to have lived too long in this world—nor participated much in the life of this Parliament—to realise that such values are not only hard to achieve but hard to maintain. That is perhaps today's understatement. Thankfully, I believe, help is at hand. As someone once wisely said, "When the outlook is tough, don't forget the uplook." The writer of the ancient biblical proverbs takes us upwards when, in Proverbs chapter 3, verses 1 to 8, he says:
"My friend, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favour and a good name in the sight of God and others. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."
So, my friends, on this day of new beginnings, let me wish you well in your endeavours. May it be that, with every task that you undertake, you daily discover the guiding hand of the God of wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity, who is—remember—only an upward glance and a call away.
I invite you to pause with me for a few moments of reflection around these significant marks in our life and work together.
Lord, we ask for wisdom—a wisdom above and beyond our human understanding.
Lord, let such wisdom inform and shape our understanding of justice.
May such justice be wrapped in, and bound up with, compassion—all the way through.
Lord, may all who speak, think and write in this influential community do so with a wisdom, justice and compassion consistent with their integrity and the integrity of this Parliament.
Amen.