Plenary, 06 Sep 2006

Meeting date: Wednesday, September 6, 2006

Official Report 522KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon and welcome back. The first item of business is time for reflection, which is led today by the Rev Roddy MacRae of Glenelg and Kintail parish church.

Frederick the Great, the Prussian army hero, once said: "The more I get to know people, the more I like my dog."

Just thinking about that, we who are involved with people all the time realise that many of our problems are stimulated by people. If we had no people problems, we would have few problems at all. It would be a great life. We would have no misunderstandings, no harsh demands, no quarrels, fights, criticisms or complaints. It would be a great place to be.

I read a story about a young puppy dog that spoke to an old dog—I bet that you did not know that dogs can speak, but they are intelligent animals. The young dog said, "I have mastered philosophy. I have learned that the best thing for a dog is happiness, and that happiness is in my tail. Therefore, I am chasing it. And when I catch it, I shall have it." The old dog replied, "I, too, have judged that happiness is a marvellous thing for a dog, and that happiness indeed resides in my tail. But I've noticed that when I chase my tail, it keeps running away from me, but when I go about my business, it comes after me."

As ministers—both political and religious—we try to make people happy. I have no doubt that, as you do so, you often find that the period of happiness is very short. The reason for that is that the focus for that happiness is very temporary, as it is about here and now. I firmly believe that Jesus wants us to discover a true happiness, not only for the body but for the soul. I believe that God wants us to know a love beyond any love that this world knows and a peace beyond our understanding. He wants us to be able to live in his grace and to understand what that means for us, both right now and for life everlasting. When we get that right, we can deal with people problems in a different light. We learn that people problems are opportunities to serve.

I believe that, if we leave God out of the equation, we will just keep chasing our tail. However, with him as the foundation of your life, goodness and mercy and real joy will follow you. One of the disciples of Jesus said, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus responded, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

We can learn a lot from how Jesus dealt with people. Not only was Jesus the ultimate servant, he achieved something spectacular for us. He made a way for us, so that we can know God and be loved by God and be complete and know forgiveness and newness of life—a life beyond our wildest dreams.

I hope that you will go forward with that knowledge as you serve the public. I pray that you will have God in the right place, so that the rest will follow you.

God bless you.