Time for Reflection
Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is the Rev Allan Loudon from the Methodist Church in Wishaw.
The Rev Allan Loudon (Methodist Church, Wishaw)
Presiding Officer,
“O wad some Power the gift tae gie us, tae see oursels as ithers see us!”
My name is Allan Loudon. I am a Scot by birth, a Methodist by upbringing and a Christian by the grace of God. It feels a bit like a confession at the start of an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, but my reflection today is about being true to ourselves—knowing who we are.
I was born in the North Lanarkshire town of Airdrie, from working-class roots, and I was brought up in a good Methodist Church tradition. My earliest memory is of singing as part of the church choir, and music has always been one of the distinctive features of Methodism, along with a belief in an inclusive God who loves all people and who rescues us by grace.
The Methodist Church is a mystery to many, a small denomination scattered in communities across Scotland but which worldwide has a membership of 70 million. We sit in the Protestant reformed church tradition but with catholic tendencies, which means we can straddle the ecumenical divide and be a bridge between competing ecclesiology.
My Methodist heritage has a radical nature, envisioned in the 18th century by one of our founders, John Wesley, as a movement for change that today still holds scripture and service at its core, giving birth from within to the Salvation Army and the trade union movement.
One of Mr Wesley’s preachers, Kenyon Wright, was at the heart of the Scottish Constitutional Convention, which gave birth to this place, so I am proud to hold this Parliament in a long line of Methodist-inspired bodies and to stand before you and encourage each of you, in our unity, to know who you are and to be true to yourself.
In sharing this short time, I was told I could not sing. However, I have one last word that is rooted in the scriptures from which I gain my inspiration: my Methodist reworking from one of the psalms of David.
“O God the creator, you search me and know me,
whether I rise or whether sit down.
You know all my thoughts, my deeds and my rest,
Acquainted you are with my being and ways.
You know all the words of my heart and my tongue
Before I can think, or speak them aloud.
You enfold me on all sides and lay your hand on me,
Such wonderful knowledge, I cannot attain.
On the wings of the morning if I journey forever
Or dwell in the depths of empty despair,
Even there I shall know that your hand, it will lead me,
Your right hand to hold me and guide me safe through.
O God you created and formed me from nothing,
Within and around me, I cannot be scared.
I praise you my fearful and wonderful maker,
Grateful that I am the work of your hand.”
I thank you for the invitation offered to this Scottish Methodist to reflect with you, and I wish you every blessing in being true to yourselves as people who God has created and loves and through whom God’s purpose is revealed.