Plenary, 07 Jan 2009
Meeting date: Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Official Report
412KB pdf
Time for Reflection
I take this opportunity to welcome you back and to wish you all a happy new year. I would like to say that it is good to be back. It is, it is.
The first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection, for which our leader is the Rev Sam Torrens, of the Barclay Church of Scotland in Edinburgh.
The Rev Sam Torrens (Barclay Church of Scotland):
In John 4:34, Jesus said:
"My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."
David Tennant can look back on his time at "Doctor Who" and say with satisfaction, "Finished!" J K Rowling can leaf through the closing chapters of her Harry Potter series with a sense of completion. Sir Chris Hoy can stare with pride at his gold medals and can say, "Job done!"—at least, for now.
Alas, I must confess that I am more a job starter than a job finisher. From half-finished Airfix models, through half-read books, to half-baked ideas and half-prepared sermons, there are many tasks left incomplete. However, I am not in bad company. Mark Twain started "The Mysterious Stranger" three times, but never finished it. One reason that has been given to explain that is that he never fully mastered the plot, which involved the exploration of complex moral dilemmas. A job finisher requires insight into and understanding of the task. I pray that God gives you insight and understanding into the complex issues that face you and our nation with regard to education, the economy, health and so forth.
The Olympian temple of Zeus was started in the 6th century BC but was left unfinished because the public believed it to be too grandiose and refused to support it—job finishers often need the support of others. I pray that God will give you plans, policies and ideas that will resonate with Parliament and the people of Scotland.
Truman Capote never finished his novel "Answered Prayers" because the prolonged saga of writing his most famous book, "In Cold Blood", left him exhausted and empty of motivation. Job finishers need energy, enthusiasm and motivation, so I pray that God will give you that energy, and that you can find enthusiasm for the work that you do day after day.
As a Christian, I am genuinely and sincerely glad that Jesus understood the complexity of the work that was given to him, and that he finished it. I am glad that, like a hungry man to his dinner, he went to the work that God had prepared for him, even though it meant the cross, and that he sacrificed himself for me and for all of us.
As a citizen, I am glad that there are people at every level of government who take to their work with focus, enthusiasm and self-sacrifice, knowing that through their completion of daily tasks they help to make our nation a better place in which to live.
So, at the start of this new year—this year of homecoming—let us bring home to completion the tasks that come our way, from the daily administrative duties to the great bills and projects, and not forgetting contact with individuals from day to day. May the immortal words of Scotland's adopted son, Magnus Magnusson, ring in your ears—"I've started, so I'll finish"—or you could listen to the words of one who is greater than he, greater than all of us:
"My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work".
May God bless you and all that you do throughout this year.
Amen.