Time for Reflection
Scottish Parliament, 28th October 2014
Presiding Officer, it is a privilege for me to be invited to lead this Time of Reflection.
Clergy and elected politicians have in common that our calling is to be simultaneously leaders and servants in our communities, as well as their representatives in and to our society. Effective leadership is founded upon knowing and understanding our communities, their needs and aspirations, and our ability to articulate these in a language which is clear and rooted in the lives and experience of the people, but also captures a vision of what their future might be, and motivates them to strive in practical ways towards its realisation.
Last year, as the bicentenary of David Livingstone’s birth was celebrated in Scotland and in many parts of Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu noted that “Many Scots have been at the forefront of the struggle for justice and respect for humanity, particularly in Africa.” Archbishop Tutu was by no means the first to make such an observation; in places where I have worked in Africa, and no doubt in other parts of the world, Scottish missionaries and secular educators and medics, among others, are remembered with an affection and gratitude not always conferred on expatriates associated with European imperialism.
Important questions about the future of Scotland have been vigorously debated in recent times, and will continue to be, with this Parliament playing an important part in deciding them. The Presiding Officer and others have noted with enthusiasm the high levels of participation in the democratic processes. Among the voices often at the margins of political discourse have been those individuals and groups whose agenda and concerns have emphasised not economic or other forms of self-interest, but the potential of Scotland to be a force for good in the world.
However realistic or otherwise we may consider some of the idealism expressed in recent debates, the conviction that Scotland can be an agency for good in the world and an example of justice in all aspects of our common life, is surely a vision in which we can all share. It is my hope and my prayer that this Parliament will exercise both leadership and service in realising this vision.