Time for Reflection
It is a particular pleasure to welcome the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Right Reverend John Cairns, to lead our last time for reflection before Christmas.
I take this opportunity to renew our thanks to you, moderator, for allowing us to use this splendid chamber—we are feeling very much at home.
The Right Reverend John B Cairns (Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland):
I would like to open by expressing the privilege that I really do feel in being invited to lead this time for reflection— almost in my own home.
I offer you two poems and a prayer. The first poem is by Maya Angelou, a black American whose spirit never broke despite abuse, rejection and violence. In her new-found confidence, she rejoices, even if some are a little offended. I see some resonances of Scotland past and present in this poem, "Still I Rise".
"You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard ‘Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise."
I will now read a very short poem by Raymond Carver. It is the last in a book of poems which he wrote while he was facing death from cancer, at the age of 50. I believe that it reveals the deepest need of any man or woman: to be loved. For Christians, Christmas is the ultimate assurance that we are so loved; others find assurance of that kind in other ways. The poem is called "Late Fragment".
"And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth."
Shall we pray.
We pray for the wellbeing of the world and all its peoples. We pray for those who rebuild where things have been destroyed; for those who fight hunger, poverty and disease; for those who have power to bring change for the better and to renew hope.
In the life of our world, may goodness grow.
We pray for our own country and its people; for those who fulfil representational, legislative, executive and caring roles in its life; for our Queen and her family; for those who frame our laws and shape our common life; for those who keep the peace and administer justice; for those who teach; for those who heal; for all who serve the community.
In the life of our land, may understanding grow.
We pray for people in need: for those for whom life is a bitter struggle; for those whose lives are clouded by death or loss, by pain or disability, by discouragement or fear, by shame or rejection, by lack of self-esteem.
In the lives of those in need, may hope and potential be realised.
We pray for ourselves and for those whom we love: that we find a unity of spirit and purpose; when we are fearful, may we find courage; when tempted by the wrong, find power to resist; when anxious and worried, find calm and peace; when weary in our work, new energy and inspiration.
In our lives, may love be found.
May you be blessed by all the good that this season of
Christmas represents and your lives be touched with its promise, its peace, its love and its joy. Amen.