Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Official Report 697KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon, everyone. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is the Rev Robert Nicol, minister of Whitburn South parish church.

Presiding Officer, members of our Scottish Parliament, I bid you good afternoon.

Have you noticed how time flies these days? It is not a new thing, of course: time has been flying for years. I can remember my granny talking about time flying when I was a wee boy, several years ago. We live in a very busy world, and our whole life is governed by time. Some people waste time and others lose it, but most of us just try to keep it.

Even when you are young, time is important. I heard recently about a little girl who was always difficult at bedtime. One night, she said to her mum, “God will be very busy at the moment, listening to the prayers of children from all over the world. I’ll just wait ’til he has more time to listen to me.” It did not work, of course—she went to bed.

Down through the centuries, people have always been concerned with time: using it, saving it and keeping track of it. But no matter how carefully we measure time, we cannot create more of it.

Jesus told a story once about a man building bigger barns who did not live long enough to enjoy the fruits of his labours, and you will all have heard the story about the man who was so busy that he never had time to live. When he died, an angel took him on a conducted tour. The man was so overcome by the sheer beauty of everything that he saw that he turned to the angel and whispered, “How wonderful! So this is heaven?” “No”, came the reply. “This is the world you lived in and never saw.”

A famous Shakespearean actor once heard an old priest recite the words of the 23rd psalm—the shepherd’s psalm—which is known and loved by Scots folks all over the world. He was deeply moved. “I know these words”, he said, “but that old man has the advantage over me: he knows the shepherd!”

Time is important. You cannot live your life over again—think about that. Take time to get to know the shepherd, and he will keep you safe now and for the rest of your life. That is the truth.

I bid you goodbye, which, as you know, actually means, “God be with you.” May God bless you and your loved ones all through this day and always.

Amen.