Plenary, 06 Mar 2002

Meeting date: Wednesday, March 6, 2002

Official Report 414KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

To lead our time for reflection, we welcome the Reverend Jack Holt, who is the minister of Birse and Feughside parish church and moderator of the presbytery of Kincardine and Deeside.

In the movie "Die Hard", there is a moment when our hero, John McClane, saves the lives of several policemen who are advancing on a building that is in the hands of a criminal gang. They are unaware of the level of firepower that can be directed against them, unlike John McClane, who is working on the inside. To save them, John is forced to blow up the lower floors.

Instead of being thanked for that brave and selfless action that saves lives, he is bawled out on a phone by a police captain for interfering in police business and damaging public property. When the phone is handed to a more sympathetic officer, he asks how John feels. "Deeply unappreciated," is his wounded reply.

I wonder how many of us in our work can think of times when we have felt the same. We give our lives to public service and try to work hard at making a difference, not only for our constituents, but for the nation as a whole. We know from the inside how hard change and the motivation of others are to achieve and we hope that others will recognise that, but we often hear the voices that tell us that something was not good enough, not quick enough and not what was needed. How do we feel? Deeply unappreciated?

As we gather to begin a new week's work, perhaps these words by Jesus might keep us from giving up on giving our best:

"Which of you, with a servant out ploughing or shepherding, will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and take your place at table'? Will the man not rather say to him, ‘Prepare my supper; get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; then you can eat and drink yourself'? So also with you, when you have done everything you were told to do, say, ‘We are but servants; we have only done our duty.'"

As you stand firm in your duty, regardless of what others may say or think of you, may the words of this prayer guide you:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.