Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Official Report 715KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is Father Colin Hughes of Holy Trinity and All Saints church in Coatbridge.

Good afternoon. The story is told of a time long, long ago when trees and animals were blissfully happy to communicate with one another. There existed on the top of a hill three baby trees.

The first baby tree had a great dream. He wanted to be a great sailing ship and sail all the oceans of the world. He would convey across the world kings and queens, princes and princesses and many noble people.

The second baby tree had the great dream to become a treasure chest that within its walls would hold diamonds and emeralds, rubies and sapphires, and he would be content forever knowing that they were in his safe care.

The third baby tree had a different dream. He wanted to stay on that hill and grow strong and tall and mighty. He wanted his branches to reach to the sky and he wanted people to look at the tree and say what a strong, mighty and valiant tree he was.

Time passed. The rains rained, the winds blew, the sun shone and the three baby trees grew to maturity.

Then, one day, a woodcutter went up the hill and with a swoop of a shining axe cut down the first tree. That tree was taken back to the woodcutter’s shed and made into a small, lowly and humble fishing boat, and the tree cried tears that only trees could cry. He did not become a great sailing ship. Then one day in the middle of the lake a man stood up and told the wind to be calm and the sea to be at peace and at once the tree knew he was holding a cargo finer than any earthly king or queen.

On another day that woodcutter went up the hill and again, with a swoop of a shining axe, cut down tree number 2. It, too, was hauled back to the woodcutter’s shed, where it was made into a feeding trough. The tree shed tears and realised his humble fate. However, one moonlit, starlit night a young mother placed her baby on the straw that had been placed in the feeding trough, and that tree knew that he was sheltering a treasure more valuable than diamonds and sapphires and emeralds and rubies.

On yet another day, that bold woodcutter went up the hill and the third tree began to tremble, because with a swoop of his shining axe he cut that tree down and the tree cried tears that only trees can cry. He was taken to the woodcutter’s yard and made into simple, humble planks of wood. Then one Friday afternoon, that tree was placed on a man’s shoulder and people were shouting and spitting at the tree and the tree was confused, dejected and sad beyond compare, but then, on the beauty of a Sunday morning, that tree stood again at the top of the hill and people looked at the tree and they said to one another, “What a strong and mighty and valiant tree,” and that tree would be forever remembered.

Each of those beautiful trees had a dream. Their dream was transformed and made into something grander and more glorious. To have a dream is to have hope and to have hope is the motivation to progress, to move on and to develop. As a priest and as members of this Parliament, we have a duty and obligation to uphold people’s dreams and to make sure that we remember that each individual has the dignity of a child of God. Both priests and members of Parliament have the ability, capacity and noble job of being dream catchers. Thank you.