Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Official Report 1164KB pdf

Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. Our first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is the Right Rev Bruce Cameron, who is a retired bishop from Perth and the former chair of Faith in Older People.

Victor Hugo, the 19th century French novelist, wrote:

“Whenever a man’s friends begin to compliment him about looking young, he may be sure that they think he is growing old.”

Fifteen years ago, I stood here, giving the time for reflection speech. I note that there are some familiar faces around, and I must compliment you on how young you are looking.

For some, growing old might be a subject that we would rather avoid. However, after 12 years of retirement, I have a more positive message, like that of Ingrid Bergman. She said:

“Getting old is like climbing a mountain; you get a little out of breath, but the view is much better!”

My having that positive message has been due to my involvement with an organisation called Faith in Older People, which I know some members are familiar with. It celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, and it is committed to the increasing awareness of a spiritual dimension in people’s lives, beyond any particular religious belief. Rather, it speaks to the inner search that human beings have for meaning and purpose to their lives. Faith in Older People encourages us, first, to celebrate the contribution of older people to society but also to care sensitively for those who are debilitated by illness. Over the past 10 years, we have held workshops, courses, conferences and research projects, often in partnership with other bodies.

Sometimes, older people can come across as a problem. We are all living longer, we are making greater demands of the national health service and care services, and there are those bus passes and free television licences. That all contributes to an attitude that old people are becoming a greater economic burden. Important as those issues are—I know that all members are involved with them—sometimes that attitude can give the impression of diminishing the value of the older person. A recent television programme showed nursery and primary school children going into care homes, and it reflected how both groups of people seemed to get so much learning and enjoyment through that interchange.

The founder of Faith in Older People, the late Malcolm Goldsmith, wrote two books that focused on the care of people with dementia. He stressed that we have to be aware of how we think about that, and of which word we stress. Do we think about “the person with dementia”, or about “the person with dementia”? Above all, our care needs to be person centred. Is there not a lesson for us all there? That invites us to look beyond age or illness to the intrinsic value of each individual person.

Let me end on a lighter note with one more quote:

“You don’t stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing.”