Plenary, 10 Dec 2003
Meeting date: Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Official Report
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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 today is Mrs Janette Baird, vice-convener of the Priority Areas Committee, Castlemilk, Glasgow.
Mrs Janette Baird (Vice-convener of the Priority Areas Committee, Castlemilk, Glasgow):
Thank you for inviting me to speak to you today. Each week in my local church, and in churches throughout the country, specific prayers are said for decision makers and members of the Scottish Parliament. Today, it is my privilege to deliver that message personally and I bring greetings from Castlemilk in Glasgow.
When people seek to serve God and join a church, this question from the book of Micah, chapter 6 verse 8, is asked of them:
"What does the lord require of thee? To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."
It strikes me that there are many similarities when people seek to serve their country in government. Many politicians are driven by the quest for justice and mercy for all our people, and to humbly serve their constituents.
Today, I would like to share a few thoughts about how that vision of justice and mercy in our country, shared by prayers and politicians, affected the decisions of one man. Geoff Shaw was a minister in the Gorbals in Glasgow who became a politician to serve in that way. In the 1960s he was a member of the Gorbals group, a core group of professionals who decided that they would operate as professionals in a different way, so they lived and worked in the Gorbals. The group was made up of ministers, teachers, youth workers and social workers. They worked with young people who faced many difficulties, some of which are the same difficulties that young people face today. Through sharing in the experiences and conditions that were faced by the community, they realised that they could not affect people's lives and circumstances simply by working with individuals; they had to get involved in politics. Geoff Shaw made the decision to become a councillor. As many of you perhaps know, he went on to make his mark as the first convener of Strathclyde regional council. He took his search for justice and mercy into politics.
I pray today that you will all be given grace to seek justice, to show mercy and to walk humbly with your God as you serve Scotland.