Plenary, 06 Sep 2005

Meeting date: Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Official Report 540KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good morning and welcome back to Parliament. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is the Rev Lorna Hood, who is minister of Renfrew North Parish Church.

My father worked in the local swimming pool in Kilmarnock, so holidays were spent at the baths. Although I learned to swim at a young age, water has always held both a fear and a fascination for me. When the tsunami struck at the close of last year, we had already booked our flights to Phuket for this summer. Would we go or would we make alternative arrangements? In the end, we stuck to our original plan and took heed of the tourist websites that urged travellers to come.

The beach was extremely quiet—it was almost deserted—and the only sound was the regular lapping of the waves on the shore. As I looked out, I was hypnotised by their steady and constant arrival as they broke on the shore. I was struck by both their beauty and their gentleness, only to be reminded so very quickly of each wave's hidden power. We have all witnessed such power in the devastation that it caused and the heartbreak that was evident on the island and—in the past few days—in the southern states of America. That power can be gentle or violent, beautiful or terrifying.

I often begin my prayers by referring to God as all powerful—a God who is omnipotent. When Jesus was threatened by the power of the Roman authority, he said to Pilate:

"You have no power over me if it were not given to you from above."

Pilate's power was to issue a death sentence; the power that Christ exercised was a power of love, care and compassion.

As a nation, we rejoiced in the establishment of our Parliament, which put power in the hands of the people of Scotland. As representatives of the people, it is your duty to exercise that power on our behalf. Disraeli once said that

"all power is a trust; that we are accountable for its exercise; that from the people and for the people all springs, and all must exist."

On this day at the beginning of a new parliamentary year, our prayer is that the power of this Parliament will be used for the good of all Scotland's people and exercised with wisdom, certainty and, above all else, the compassion and care that Jesus demonstrated, especially towards the vulnerable and the weak. May God guide you and direct you so that you may use that power wisely.

God bless you all.