Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Official Report
771KB pdf
Time for Reflection
Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is the Rev Jennifer Macrae from St Mary’s church in Haddington.
The Rev Jennifer Macrae (St Mary’s Church, Haddington)
What is your story? No matter what the answer is, stories are very important. It is likely that stories have played a part in making each of us who we are. In St Mary’s over the summer, we have had a focus on stories. Our young church summer project was the building of Noah’s ark, and the story inspired many who are no longer young in years, but who are still young at heart, to get involved. Just last week, the Prestonpans tapestry, which tells its unique story, was on display in our church.
The Bible is full of stories. The Old Testament gives us Noah’s ark, Moses and the burning bush, Daniel in the lions’ den and many others. In the New Testament, a lot of Jesus’s teaching is done through stories, but stories that are known as parables. Jesus told stories using images that were familiar to his listeners: seed, flowers, animals, goodies and baddies. The things in the parables may have been familiar, but these were not just cosy chats to make his audience feel good. There was a point to them, but what that point was he never did spell out.
I always think of a parable as being like a comic, but a comic with a difference. The pictures tell the story, but the last picture is missing. The ending is not there, so it is up to the reader or the hearer to supply it; and, as we have probably experienced, that means that there will be at least as many endings as there are hearers.
Sometimes Jesus added a question along the lines of “Have you understood?” and the Bible tells us that his listeners usually answered immediately with an enthusiastic, “Yes!” Maybe that is good, but maybe it is not. When we hear stories from the people we encounter, perhaps it is better to take time to absorb the meaning and the significance, and to reflect within ourselves on what the stories say about the folk who tell them, before we respond. Of course, as with the missing ending of the parable, we will come up with different answers, and the challenge then will be one of discernment. Whatever stories you or I hear in the course of our living, they form an important part of the people we serve. What we do with them may well play a significant part in shaping the fabric of our nation.