Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)

Meeting date: Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Official Report 872KB pdf

Time for Reflection

Good afternoon, colleagues. Before I begin, I remind members that, as always, social distancing measures are in place throughout the building and in the chamber, so please be careful when you enter and leave the chamber.

Our first item of business is time for reflection, and our leader today is the Rev Erik Cramb from the Dundee Pensioners Forum.

It must be an exciting day for you all as the new programme for government is laid out. As parliamentarians, you must be well aware of the tensions between power and service, and if you are not aware of those things, you certainly ought to be.

I will tell you a story from the Bible, in which two of Jesus’s disciples—James and John—come to Jesus and say to him:

“When you sit on your throne in your glorious Kingdom, we want you to let us sit with you, one at your right and one at your left.”

In other words, they are saying, “Boss, see when you get into power, will you make us your top dogs?”

Jesus replies along the lines that “That’s not the way it’s going to work in my kingdom. Let me tell you this truth: whoever would wish to be great, must be a servant, and whoever would be the greatest of all, must be the servant of all.”

Perhaps the pandemic has taught us that truth. Are not nurses and care workers seen to be the greatest among us? As the programme for government is laid out today, to truly honour the positions to which you have been elected, you should all—in both Government and Opposition—aspire to use whatever powers you have as servants of all the people of Scotland. I say to you that yours is a high calling—remember that. It demands that you give your all in the service of others. Be the best that you can be.