Plenary, 05 Feb 2003
Meeting date: Wednesday, February 5, 2003
Official Report
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Time for Reflection
To lead our time for reflection today, we welcome the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Right Rev Dr Finlay Macdonald.
Right Rev Dr Finlay Macdonald (Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland):
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Three weeks ago, I attended a meeting at the Central mosque in Glasgow. Present were leading representatives of churches, along with leaders of the Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist and Bahá'í faiths.
We spent the morning sharing our different traditions of prayer. It was simply a case of listening to each other. There was no argument over the relative merits of different patterns of prayer—no one saying that they were right and everyone else was wrong.
We then accepted the imam's invitation to attend midday prayer in the mosque. Chairs had been set out at the back and there the non-Muslims among us sat quietly with our own thoughts and prayers.
After a sociable lunch, we took up the theme of peace, each person sharing something of their faith's teaching on the subject. The current international situation could hardly be avoided and we discussed a draft statement that had been sent out prior to the meeting. As happens on such occasions, changes were made and eventually a text was agreed. Having been involved in preparing the draft, I offered to tidy up the text. Imam Habib kindly offered me the use of his office and computer for the purpose and left me to my task. As I was keying in the changes, the phone rang, but fearing the confusion that might arise if the moderator answered the mosque telephone, I just left it to the answering machine.
The purpose of such interfaith gatherings is not to demonstrate that all religions are essentially the same—they are not. Rather the purpose is to get to know one another as human beings and to learn from each other. I have been reading the latest book by the chief rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, "The Dignity of Difference", and find myself challenged by his thesis that monotheism does not necessarily mean
"one God, therefore one faith, one truth, one way."
Sacks argues that we need not only what he calls a theology of commonality, but a theology of difference. As he puts it:
"We will make peace only when we learn that God loves difference and so, at last, must we. God has created many cultures, civilisations and faiths, but only one world in which to live together—and it is getting smaller all the time."
In such a world may the peace of God rule in our hearts.
Colleagues, usually at the end of time for reflection, I simply stand up and thank the leader of time for reflection. However, members will want to know that today is the last time that we will welcome the moderator in his own premises.
I want members to know that Finlay Macdonald, as principal clerk of the General Assembly, was the person who had all the trauma, trial and tribulation of agreeing the lease and use of the premises, arranging moving out of the General Assembly hall on two occasions to let us use the premises, and refitting the hall after we moved out. Therefore, today I do not just thank the moderator, but, on behalf of the Parliament, I say thank you to Finlay Macdonald, for allowing us to occupy their assembly hall for four wonderful years. Thank you very much indeed. [Applause.]