Plenary,

Meeting date: Wednesday, May 30, 2001

Official Report 306KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

To lead time for reflection today, I welcome Mr Alex Reid, the parliamentary officer of the Baha'i Council for Scotland.

I would like to open with a prayer revealed by Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith.

O Lord! Bestow thy gracious aid and confirmation upon this just government. This country lieth beneath the sheltering shadow of thy protection and this people is in thy service. O Lord, confer upon them thy bounty and render the outpourings of thy grace and favour copious and abundant. Suffer this esteemed nation to be held in honour and enable it to be admitted into thy kingdom. Thou art the powerful, the omnipotent, the merciful, and thou art the generous, the beneficent, the Lord of grace abounding.

I bring greetings from the Scottish Baha'i community. On its behalf, I wish to thank you for providing us this opportunity to address the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish people.

My thought for reflection this afternoon is about diversity and whether we can turn our diversity to our advantage. In the past, the diversity of our peoples and cultures has often led us into conflict and destructive wars. Even today, we are a diverse people with differing backgrounds and conflicting interests. The Baha'i writings ask that we view diversity in a new light. Abdul' Baha said,

"The diversity of the human family should be the cause of love and harmony, as it is in music where many different notes blend together in the making of a perfect chord".

Baha'i experience and practice is based on the concept of unity in diversity. Baha'is worldwide—and in Scotland—are drawn from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The teaching of our faith has helped us to experience diversity as a strength. All of us in Scotland daily press forward to build a new and, we hope, a better future for our country. It would be great if we could try to draw strength from our diversity. As Baha'u'llah says,

"Let each morn be better than its eve and each morrow richer than its yesterday. Man's merit lieth in service and virtue, and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches."

I am certain that we are united in wanting a better future for Scotland. Let us pray that each morrow will be richer than its yesterday.

Nearly 150 years ago, Baha'u'llah wrote to Queen Victoria. Included in his letter was a prayer that he had earmarked for use in democratic assemblies and Parliaments, such as this one. I will close with that brief prayer:

O my God! I ask thee by thy most glorious name, to aid me in that which will cause the affairs of thy servants to prosper and thy cities to flourish. Thou indeed hast power over all things.

Thank you.