Plenary, 09 Jan 2002
Meeting date: Wednesday, January 9, 2002
Official Report
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Time for Reflection
The first item this afternoon is time for reflection, led today by Rev Ian Scott, the Church of Scotland minister of Greenbank parish church in Edinburgh.
Rev Ian Scott (Church of Scotland Minister of Greenbank Parish Church, Edinburgh):
I thank you for the privilege of leading this time for reflection, particularly at this, the first meeting of the Parliament in 2002.
It seems appropriate for me to begin by wishing you all a happy new year. Yet that traditional greeting, however sincerely meant, may often seem to be little more than a ritual expression. The words tend to be tinged with a certain caution, and punctuated, perhaps, with a question mark. Such a greeting has been described as an expression of hope in spite of experience. We all know that, in personal terms, the past bears ample witness to the fact that life can sometimes be very hard indeed. Very recent events confirm that truth.
National and international affairs seem to give even less cause for optimism. Perhaps, beneath the buoyancy of festive cheer, we turn to the future with more foreboding than optimism. Yet I am optimistic—confident is perhaps a better word. For me, the Christian gospel proclaims not just a belief in God, but a belief in a loving God who is also a God of justice.
That does not remove all of life's difficulties, but the Christmas message that we carry into the new year and into every day of life is that God in Jesus entered into real life and experienced all its turmoil and trauma. Yet, by sacrifice and love, he conquered evil. We have a hope that is not just wishful thinking, but a promise that, ultimately, life will be fulfilled and will be fulfilling. But that is not magic: we cannot just sit back and wait for it all to happen, nor should we suffer in silence until it does, for the God revealed in Jesus invites us—even challenges us—to use our lives to make a difference, to tackle the ills that afflict humanity, to develop the full potential of every individual and to create a caring society.
On Sunday past, my eye fell on these words from one of our hymn books. They seem relevant to this occasion, for a Parliament and for us all:
"Till all the jails are empty
And all the bellies filled;
Till no-one hurts or steals or lies,
And no more blood is spilled;
Till age and race and gender
No longer separate;
Till pulpit, press and politics
Are free of greed and hate:
God has work for us to do."
I wish you a good new year. May God bless all your endeavours.