Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

Meeting date: Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Official Report 1062KB pdf

Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection, and our time for reflection leader today is the Rev Neil Glover, minister for Aberfeldy, Dull and Weem, Grandtully, Logierait and Strathtay.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. It is a privilege to speak to you in this holy week, leading up to Easter.

I want to begin by telling you a secret about the church. I would appreciate it if you kept this quiet. In the church, we follow Jesus Christ, who taught us how to love and asked us to go and do likewise, but sometimes, in private, we are not always very nice to one another. We sometimes say cruel words and plot cunning schemes, and the wounds of that behaviour leave some very deep scars.

I also want to reveal a secret about the Scottish Parliament—one that you occasionally keep very quiet. In the Scottish Parliament, you are sometimes very nice to one another. You are often tender and thoughtful, and you look out for one another. In private, you often say incredibly kind words to one another.

About a decade ago, I was at a conference that was attended by two MSPs, from very different political parties, who, in public, would have denounced each other in frightening terms. One of the MSPs suffered from a degenerative disease, and the other MSP looked after her colleague with the most remarkable care. Their conversation was marked by an intimacy that suggested deep friendship. The Scottish churches parliamentary liaison officer who was with me that day was not in the least bit surprised. Apparently, that is very common behaviour.

The people of this Parliament and the people of the church share something fundamental: we are human. When we are kind to one another, we grow, and when we hurt one another, we are diminished. We are all human. Whether in churches or in Parliaments, there is no escape from being human.

I recently spoke to another politician. He was in a bad way, and a lot of his despondency derived from words that had been said by a colleague. He was really struggling. Perhaps, you might say, he needed a thicker skin, but I would rather that he did not. I much preferred him being human, because we are at our best when we are human.

In the church, we are at our best when we are earthed, grounded, vulnerable, kind and human. In politics, you are at your best when you are earthed, grounded, vulnerable, kind and human. Bless you in this holy week—another week in politics. Bless you in another week of the great adventure of being human.