Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection, for which our leader today is Mr Jamie Stuart, who is an elder of High Carntyne parish church and author of “The Glasgow Gospel” and “A Glasgow Bible”.
Presiding Officer, members of the Scottish Parliament, I thank you for this opportunity to address you. For most of my life I have cherished our Scots language. I believe that it has power and eloquence, so I offer you, from the guid book, 1 Corinthians, chapter 13.
“I may speak wi the tongues o men an angels but if I hiv nae luve
In ma hert, I’m just a noisy gong or a clangin cymbal.
I may hiv the gift o prophecy,
An ken aw aboot life’s mysteries; I may hiv faith
Strang enough tae shift mountains—but still in aw, hiv nae luve
In ma hert—I am nothing.
I may dole oot aw that I possess,
An even gie up ma body tae the flames,
But if I hiv nae luve in ma hert,
I am nane the better o it.
Luve is aye patient an kind;
Isnae aye graspin; it disnae blaw
Its ane trumpet.
Luve has guid manners—very guid manners
Luve disnae gloat ower ither folks sins, but rejoices wi the truth.
Luve kens nae limit tae its endurance,
Nae end tae its trust, nae fadin o its hope: it will exist for aw eternity.
Luve will not fail.
Dae we hiv prophets? Their day will be ower.
Are we carried awa wi tongues? They will cease.
Is there knowledge? It will vanish awa.
For we ken noo in pairt, an we prophecy in pairt;
But when perfection comes, the partial will finish.
When I wis a bairn, I had the speech o a bairn, the mind o a bairn, an the thochts o a bairn;
But noo that I am grown tae manhood,
I have pit awa bairnlike things.
For just noo we can see an hear jist a wee bit aboot God;
But wan day we will see him in aw his glory; aye, face tae face.
I ken noo in pairt, but wan day I shall ken it aw, even as god sees intae ma hert richt noo.
There are three things that bide forever;
Faith, hope and luve;
An the greatest o the three is luve.”
Amen. [Applause.]
I think that we will get him back another time. [Laughter.]