Plenary, 04 Oct 2000

Meeting date: Wednesday, October 4, 2000

Official Report 335KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. It is a personal pleasure to welcome to lead our time for reflection, on the eve of his 90th birthday, the Very Reverend Dr David Steel, former moderator of the Church of Scotland.

Thank you for the honour you do me by inviting me to lead time for reflection. In accepting your invitation I am breaking a resolution I made after my 80th birthday, which was to decline all ministerial speaking engagements unless—I added to myself—it was one that I was especially interested in. So here I am today, breaking that useful resolution and I am happy to do so.

From the beginning of my ministry I have carried a small Bible containing the New Testament and the book of Psalms from the Old Testament. My favourite is Psalm 23.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

It ends with:

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

I have used that psalm more often than any other in the 40 years of my ministry. There is a confidence, a faith and a realism about the words. It faces the fact that life is not easy and that sooner or later we all have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death.

I want to conclude with a brief account of an unforgettable occasion when I quoted that psalm. I went to a hospital to visit a fine old man—a widower who lived alone and was now seriously ill. Before I entered the ward, I was told that he had just died. I went to his bedside and there was the old man's grandson who had been at his grandfather's side when he died. After some words of sympathy, I took out my Bible and began to read the 23rd psalm:

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."

I thought I heard a faint sound that I recognised as the last four words. I realised that the man who was supposed to be dead was repeating the words, not after me but with me. I finished the psalm and called the doctor. After a short time he assured us that the old man was dead. The grandson said, "But he did follow you, word for word. I heard him." The doctor said, "It is astonishing but not utterly impossible that for a brief time the heart started to beat faintly, after he had been certified dead."

The old man never regained consciousness but he certainly experienced the "goodness and mercy" that the psalm says shall follow us all the days of our life until we

"dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

So may it be, in the mercy of God, for us. Let us pray.

Lord, as we pray, we know that we are not worthy so we ask for your forgiveness for our sins. Help us, we pray, by your grace to do better, to be more honest, more loving, more faithful to you and more obedient to your will. Bless, we pray, the members of the Scottish Parliament, each and every one, that by your help and guidance they may truly serve the people of Scotland. This we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The blessing of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.