Plenary, 17 Dec 2003

Meeting date: Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Official Report 404KB pdf

---

Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. Our first item of business is time for reflection, for which our leader is the Right Rev Michael Henley, who is the Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane.

I am privileged, fortunate and lucky enough to live in St Andrews, not because I am the Bishop of St Andrews, but because that has been my home base for more than 40 years. I say that it has been my home base because part of my career was spent as a chaplain in the Royal Navy. I came and went, but my children benefited from a Scottish education.

Members will detect from my accent that I am, as a Fifer would say if he were being polite, an incomer. I am also a Scotophile with a passion for all that Scotland has to offer and contribute to people and society in general and I have a particular interest in rural affairs.

When I first came to Scotland in the early 1960s to serve as a chaplain to HMS Caledonia—that wonderful engineering training establishment in Rosyth—I was struck by the solidarity and immobility of the Scottish family from grandparents to grandchildren, who often lived within a few hundred yards of one another and moulded into a strong and cohesive community, even when children married and produced their own families.

St Andrews is still a strong local community, offset by its university, golf and tourism. Academia, sport and tourism are all essential factors in the life-blood of Scotland on which not only our urban but our rural communities depend. Sadly, St Andrews cannot at the moment retain all its young. That is symptomatic of much of Fife.

Members who are golfers will know that the Old course has the notorious hell bunker. I have been in it many times and I assure members that it is hell. On many fronts, neither my Christian denomination nor others—or any of the various faith groups—wants to see anywhere in Scotland that which leads to a concept of hell, be it among our asylum seekers, in the health service or in educational evolution.

Whatever their background, the Scot is naturally interested in human justice, human rights and personal dignity, but Scots have always shown a commitment, historically, to a wider world. One of the many joys of my life travelling the world has been to meet and relate to those from Scotland in many diverse situations and places, and, in so doing, to realise their integrity and commitment.

I believe that the essential factor in our life today is the given community—a true identity within it—and that in the communities in which we all live, we should accept the responsibility of providing a sense of community and continuity.

The second great commandment in my denomination, and one that is shared in various ways with many faith groups, is to

"love your neighbour as yourself".

That in itself involves an understanding of our community, identity and continuity.

I thank members for listening to me and I wish you all a good festive season.