Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is the Rev Alan Cobain, the minister of Tyne Valley parish, Midlothian.
Presiding Officer and members of the Scottish Parliament, I want to tell you a Christmas parable. I want you to picture the scene up in Princes Street, as it might be. It is of course December. It is thronging with crowds of Christmas shoppers from all over the world making their way through the rain.
Among the crowds is a little girl with her mother. She is holding her mother with one hand and with the other she is clutching tightly to a newly purchased jigsaw in a box. She is all smiles because it is an early present. Suddenly, to her horror, the little girl trips and spills the content of the box all over the wet pavement. Her mother, who is in a hurry, urges the little girl to “Come on”, but the child refuses to leave the sorry scene. Instead, she lingers and begins to sob, because she sees that the pieces strewn all over the wet pavement are beginning to be trampled by the busy shoppers.
Who can help? What can be done? There were a number of people passing by. Let me pick out one or two who were passing by the scene. First there was an unemployed youth with plenty of time on his hands. He sees the scene, but he does not think it is his business to stop or get involved. He merely steps around the pieces and walks on.
Next is a charity worker. She has compassion for millions all over the world, but she is so deep in thought about her next Christmas purchase that she does not even see the need in front of her.
Here is the unusual moment. A rich businessman, on his mobile phone, in a rush to make more money and pressed for time, surveys the scene from across Princes Street. He now crosses over Princes Street, dodging all the shiny new trams and, of course, all the buses and taxis, and he bends down in the rain. He starts to pick up the pieces. In amazement, the little girl looks into the kindness of his face and says, “Excuse me, sir, is your name Jesus?” “No”, he replies, “My name isn’t Jesus, but I’m a friend of his.”
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Business Motions