Official Report 428KB pdf
The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is the Rev Ruth Harvey, leader of the Iona Community.
Good afternoon, friends. I join you today from the relative peace of the island of Iona. As we look around at our world, however, there can be no doubt that we live in anguished and unsettling times. Yet still there is hope, so a question that I ponder, and one I would like to explore and share with you today, is this: to what can we pin our hopes today?
In 1937, when the world was catapulting towards war, a world conference was convened by a Quaker, Rufus Jones. In preparation, he wrote:
“I sincerely hope for good results, but I have become a good deal disillusioned over ‘big’ conferences and large gatherings. I pin my hopes to quiet processes and small circles, in which vital and transforming events take place.”
To what can we pin our hopes?
I pin my hopes to the small circles and quiet processes that are created when people of goodwill gather to pray, reflect, welcome the stranger and take action together for peace and justice. Such groups flourish across our lands and are signs of hope in the midst of storm.
I belong to the Iona Community—a global, dispersed Christian community working for justice and peace. Rooted in Scotland, our worldwide membership meets monthly in just such small circles. We share concerns, we pray together and we commit ourselves to working on actions for justice.
I also pin my hopes to quiet processes where people with varying views can find a safe place for expansive conversations. A few years ago, I was honoured to co-convene, on behalf of the Parliament, Scotland’s Climate Assembly. The model of citizens assemblies offers us all a respectful process to hear diverse voices and to understand, while not necessarily agreeing with, those whose views differ from our own. As we approach local elections, my hope is pinned to the possibility that diametrically opposed views may be heard with respect and that minds and hearts may be changed for good.
Notwithstanding the need for passionate chambers and large gatherings, it may be that where two or three gather in the name of love, such vital and transforming events can take place.
Today, at the start of the season of Lent, I pin my hopes to stories of love told in sacred texts and, in that, I pin my hopes to the witness of Jesus Christ, who reminds us that even in the smallest grain, in the tiniest seed, it is there that we find the entirety of the peace, love, justice and hope of our Creator.
To what do you pin your hopes?
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