Plenary, 02 Oct 2002
Meeting date: Wednesday, October 2, 2002
Official Report
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Time for Reflection
To lead our time for reflection this afternoon, we welcome, from the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness, the Right Rev John Crook.
Right Rev John Crook (Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness, Scottish Episcopal Church):
I am sure that members will have heard of the prolonged thunderstorm with torrential rain that caused localised flooding in the city of Inverness over a weekend last month. On the Sunday morning, I walked around the cathedral looking up at the rones and down pipes, as I am sure that that is the best time to note the leaks and blockages.
It is only when you look up that you notice two small carvings, high up on one of the walls. One is of a horse and the other is of a wheel. Why are they there? The guidebooks tell us that, when the cathedral was built in the 1860s, two men were responsible for its construction. They were one of my predecessors, Bishop Robert Eden, and the local architect, Alexander Ross. Both were remarkable men, but not even they could have done all the work on their own. There would have been stonemasons, carpenters, plumbers, slaters and glaziers and a variety of skilled artists, craftsmen and tradesmen, not forgetting the strong labourers. The large stones were lifted by means of pulley wheels, using the strength of horses pulling on the ropes attached to their harnesses. The two carvings remind us that many—both man and beast—laboured to build the beautiful cathedral.
God gives to each of us a wide variety of different gifts and abilities. Some of those are obvious and visible. Other gifts, particularly in the young, may be hidden and could remain so if not brought out and nurtured by parents and teachers. We need to learn to value and respect one another's different abilities and strengths.
The apostle Paul, when speaking of the church, uses the analogy of the human body. All the different parts and organs need to function properly for the whole body to function efficiently and effectively. What St Paul says about the different functions, ministries or gifts in the church is surely true in all life. Let us appreciate and respect that we depend on the work and skills of others. Let us never take for granted those who work for us and with us; those who have, in the past and in the present, assisted us in building the achievements we claim as "our own".
You need to raise your eyes to see the small memorials of the horse and the wheel on the cathedral wall. May we always have our eyes raised and open to notice all who labour, who give faithful service, and acknowledge them by at least a smile of gratitude and recognition.