Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Official Report 703KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is Lieutenant Colonel Alan Burns, the Scottish secretary of the Salvation Army.

It is September, and the nights are drawing in. It is amazing to think that in a few weeks many people will be experiencing dark journeys to and from their places of work.

I am informed that the light conditions at dusk and at dawn are remarkably similar. An alien from Mars arriving on earth at either dusk or dawn would be hard pressed to tell whether they had landed in the morning or the evening—at dusk or at dawn. How would you tell the difference by mere observation?

Dusk announces the darkness of night; dawn announces the brightness of day. Speaking about the arrival of Jesus on the planet—he was not from Mars, I hasten to add—John in his gospel says:

“This was the real light—the light that comes into the world and shines on all people”.

As leaders and politicians, the theme is captured as you communicate your message of hope for a better society for everybody.

In our rapidly changing world, the landscape is currently dominated by the “hard times ahead” message. Could this obscure the hope of better things? Is it dawn or dusk out there? Do we stand as messengers at the end of daylight announcing the darkness of night, or do we stand at dawn announcing light—that there is a better way ahead?

I suppose that, to a large extent, it depends on your world view. People are divided on the issue: there are those who are excited about our kids’ future and those who are not. Half of us are optimistic about the future, while the other half are somewhat pessimistic. Half marvel and dance; half vent their frustration on news media programmes. In our negative reaction, I am worried that we are in danger of giving the future a unanimous thumbs down to emerging generations, simply because the neighbourhood that we once knew has changed.

The message of the Christian faith revolves around the story of Jesus Christ, who in spite of the darkness of his crucifixion and death left us with the message of resurrection and light—a dawn message of a new day, full of light and hope to those who believe.

As you look at your world, you have a choice on faith’s dimmer switch. You can turn it in one of two directions: towards the light of optimism or the darkness of pessimism. There are always people who are allergic to good news. I also know people for whom all things are possible.

God bless you.