Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Official Report 898KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business today is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is Mhairi Wallace, who is an attached reader to Kirkcudbright parish church.

Good afternoon. I thank the Presiding Officer for the invitation to lead time for reflection today.

There is an old saying:

“What the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve.”

I have proved that both right and wrong.

When I was out running recently, I saw a man just up ahead of me whose dog was playing in the mud. I ran on, listening to my iPod, and suddenly found myself face down on the path. What had caused that unusual clumsiness? The man was attached to the dog by an extending lead that allowed the dog to run for miles and the owner to stay on the dry path. I had effectively been felled by a rather sharp tripwire. I suppose that one consolation was that the dog was a small terrier and the rope caught me on the shins. If the dog had been a Great Dane, I could have been garrotted. No lasting damage was done, apart from my bleeding shins and dented dignity. Although the eye did not see that, the effect was definitely felt.

Later, I went into our sitting room and found our westie standing on the end of the settee having a drink from my husband’s cup. Judging by the look on her face, it was not the first time that she had done that. How often had somebody left their tea lying and Lucy had helped herself, unknown to the drinker, who then came back and finished it? That is a case of the eye not seeing and the heart not grieving.

A man once watched a young boy out in a field flying a kite. He noticed that there was something strange about the way the boy was holding the string. He realised that the boy was blind. He went over and said to the boy, “Do you like flying kites?” The boy said, “I love it.” Intrigued, the man asked him, “How can that be when you can’t see it?” The boy said, “I might not be able to see it, but I can feel it tugging.”

We might not always be able to identify the love of God in this world. Like that wee boy, we might not be able to see love, but there is a tug that lets us know that it is there, and we can show that love in simple acts of kindness to one another. We cannot stop all the evil in the world, but how we treat one another is entirely up to us. I believe in God like I believe in the sunrise—not because I can see him, but because I can see all of his love in everything that it touches.

Let us pray.

Lord, we take a moment to remember all those who are caught up in turmoil, especially those who are caught up in the earthquake in New Zealand. We pray that aid may be quick to reach them. Lord, we ask that you open our eyes so that we may see the presence that is all about us, open our ears so that we may hear the voice that is quiet, yet ever near, and open our hearts so that we may feel the love of God close and real. We ask that you open each sense and make us aware of the power and the peace that are always there.

Amen.