Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Official Report 849KB 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 Reverend Matthew Bicket, who is minister at Carnoustie Panbride church.

In 1977, I went to work with the Church of Bangladesh as an agriculturist, and for six years my home was in that amazing country. Over the years since, I have made a number of visits, taking members of my congregation to help build churches and refurbish schools.

I made a personal visit in October last year and, over three weeks, I renewed friendships and met a number of people I used to know. I visited the place where I first worked and met two young men I had not seen for 30 years. There was much laughter as we reminisced. They reminded me of my attempt at using my Bengali language “skills”, when I had prayed very fervently, “God bless the devil and protect us from children.”

But I was humbled when some of those I met told me about things that I had forgotten about, such as the letter that I had written in Bengali to the youngster whose mother had died, and who still had the letter. Others remembered the interest that I had taken in them, such as the times that I had travelled to their home villages, staying in their homes, to get a better understanding of where they came from. How grateful they were for the trouble that I had taken to stay in their homes, with no electricity and often not even basic facilities.

I had long forgotten any perceived difficulties, but they still remembered that I had come to stay with them. The young man of 39, whom I had not seen for over 30 years, remembered that I had come to his sixth birthday party and brought sweetmeats and read the bible in Bengali and prayed for him and his family. During my three weeks, I was able to visit people in their homes, sit with them and share their wonderful hospitality. There was genuine gratitude for someone taking the trouble, as they saw it, to visit them. I did not see it as any trouble at all—it is what building up relationships is all about.

What struck me forcefully was the importance of the people in the local communities and congregations. The Church of Bangladesh has, at its core, relationships built up with people of all faiths. What the boys remembered were little things, but these little things build up relationships. In the work that we all do, whether in a parish or in a constituency, it is people who matter. Let us never forget that.