Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Official Report 884KB pdf

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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 the Right Rev Lorna Hood, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

Thank you—it is a pleasure to be here.

A man hurries into the storage area of a town’s food bank. The people there recognise him as someone who had food delivered to his house just a few weeks ago. On their guard, they are about to quiz him, but he smiles and signals to the van outside, and his wife and four children emerge, carrying half a dozen carrier bags. He says, “You helped me when I was at my wits’ end. Now I am back on my feet—please help some others.” That is one of a number of stories that I could have shared with you from the various visits that I have made, both at home and abroad.

My theme for the year has been hope, and part of my journey has been to visit places where there is hopelessness and despair, in Romania, Greece and, I am ashamed to say, Scotland, and where people are caught in a spiral that ultimately leads to debt and retreat to modern day moneylenders. Many of the people we met were honest and desperate to be hard working, but so many epitomised hopelessness. Yet, even in that hopelessness, we witnessed hope—hope that was evident through so many ordinary people, who saw their witness of the Christian faith issuing in action.

I am privileged to represent the largest denomination, the Church of Scotland, but, more than that, I am part of a faith that follows one who said:

“When you do it to the least you do it to me”.

The Old Testament concept of justice was misphat, which means not simply that the good are rewarded and the bad punished, but rather a society that cares for the vulnerable—those who are fragile. You are in politics because you want to see a society that is just and fair. The end goals, I hope, are the same, but we may differ from our different perspectives and even political standpoints in how we think we achieve that. We seek to walk with you and we need to work in partnership.

We are present in every part of Scotland, in the varied situations and problems of every area of life, working independently and alongside other faith communities to seek the best for all our people. That is why we can call ourselves a national church. Regardless of the outcome in September 2014, we will continue in every part of Scotland to play our part and to work with you. We see it as serving our Lord and master—no more and no less. May God bless you all.