Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)

Meeting date: Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Official Report 911KB pdf

Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. Before we begin, I remind members that social distancing measures are in place in the chamber and across the Holyrood campus. I ask that members take care to observe those measures over the course of this afternoon’s business, including when entering and exiting the chamber.

Our first item of business today is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is the Rev Louise Purden, minister, Bonnyrigg parish church.

I am extremely grateful for the kind invitation to digitally join you today in Parliament—thank you very much for having me.

As I prepared for today, I remembered the last time I was physically in the Scottish Parliament, which was as a member of the audience for “Question Time”. It was one of the last episodes hosted by David Dimbleby, and I waited eagerly to see whether my question would be answered—it was not, but I did not mind at all. From my teenage years, “Question Time” was a real event in our house; we would join in the debates booing and cheering in panto style as we listened to the various guests putting forward their opinions. It was in that rich environment that I was able to formulate my own ideas and it was through listening to others that I began to establish my own opinions.

I have a postcard in my study that was produced by the charity the Samaritans, and it says that one in three teenagers need a good listening to, but I disagree—I think that three in three humans need a good listening to. Listening is a powerful act. I wonder whether you have ever felt frustrated when you have not felt listened to, or—even worse—when someone has listened but not heard what you have said. I am sure that you can relate to that.

As I look to my example of Jesus, I see lots of instances where he asks the right questions, never making presumptions. I read recently that, between the ages of two and five, children ask 40,000 questions. That is how we learn and grow; we need to ask questions, but we also need to listen. Listening is not always easy though; it can take great effort, and I am sure that I am not alone in being guilty of nodding and smiling at someone while inside wondering what to have for my tea, or of sitting in a Zoom chat, getting distracted and beginning to daydream about a time when we can meet together in more than two households.

Truly listening is something beautiful. In an essay, Brenda Ueland writes that those who

“really listen to us are the ones we move toward, and we want to sit in their radius as though it did us good.”

Each one of us needs a right good listening to, and each day we have an opportunity to truly listen to others—what impact might that have on individuals? What impact might that have on society? I pray that Scotland says something that is truly worth listening to and, to quote Jesus,

“I pray that we have ears to hear.”