Plenary, 05 Dec 2007

Meeting date: Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Official Report 426KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is the Rev Neil Urquhart, from Fullarton church in Irvine.

If the wise men were to visit the Scottish Parliament this advent, would they find who they were looking for? In Irvine, we are making a short film—a sequel to "Wise Men 1", which saw three ancient Persian magi scour Irvine for the king. After losing their camels, they searched on pogo stick, scooter and skateboard via Seagate castle, the King's Arms pub and Burger King. In desperation, they asked for advice from North Ayrshire Council's head. The front-page headline in The Irvine Herald read "At Last! The Wise Men come to Council HQ!"

Our sage sleuths were tipped off in Irvine Royal academy to look for someone younger, so they filled a supermarket trolley with computer games, nappies, rusks, cuddly toys and so on. A visit to the baby hospital did not deliver their prize. Bushed and bamboozled, they were ready to accept an offer from King World Travel for cheap flights home. Eureka—a Royal Bank manager persuaded them not to cash in their gold, frankincense and myrrh, and to look for Jesus in more unexpected places, wherever people were loving, caring and sharing.

Thus, our intrepid explorers found Jesus at work in a homeless hostel, the community health house, and nursing homes—all over the place, wherever people were serving and looking out for the needs of others before themselves. Yes, Christ, the servant king can still be found throughout Scotland today, in many selfless acts of kindness and in people's passion for justice and sacrificial concern for the vulnerable of society. Like those wise ones, do we seek, notice or recognise Jesus in 2007?

"Wise Men 2" has latter-day wise ones Mother Teresa, William Wilberforce and Irvine-born hero James Montgomery teaming up to search for Christ in Irvine today. They visit local pubs, in search of friendship and camaraderie; a junior football ground, where Jesus Christ gets many mentions on a Saturday; shops, looking for fair trade; journalists, hoping to unearth good news; and houses and homes, searching for community spirit. They hope to find examples of kindness, compassion and concern for justice and mercy in our community.

What if we made the film here in the Scottish Parliament? What pleasant surprises and evidence of the servant king's presence might local hero John Knox, William Wilberforce and Mother Teresa find? Keep your eyes open—you might notice Jesus yourself.

Will you pray with me? Fierce and friendly God, may your care for the needs of others; your compassion for the vulnerable and victimised; your concern for the lonely and lost; your heart for one world; and your friendship, which crosses age, race, class, religious and political boundaries with grace, love and reconciliation, be felt and telt in our land.

"God grant us the serenity
to accept the things we cannot change;
the courage to change the things we can;
and the wisdom to know the difference."

Amen.