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Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

Meeting date: Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Official Report 1362KB pdf

Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection, and our time for reflection leader is Ian Houston, GlobalScot, writer and trustee at the Robert Burns Ellisland farm and museum.

Presiding Officer, members of the Scottish Parliament, staff, family and friends, sometimes we find ourselves at the firth, where rivers meet the sea, standing at a threshold beneath the starry skies. I hope that each person listening, wherever they may be, hears this today: you matter and are of profound worth. You glisten like the River Clyde on a crisp winter morning, shimmer like the spring dew upon the Shenandoah valley, hold the elegance of a San Francisco fog in summer and glow with the hues of a Highland forest in autumn—luminous in every place.

As Michael Lloyd, the silversmith behind the extraordinary mace before us, said,

“Things that are made with passion and love are special”,

and so are you—full of lustre. Like the shining mace of silver, banded with gold, the human soul is, after all, delicate and deserving of the polish of tenderness.

Ecclesiastes tells us:

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”

Seasons cross fields of thorns. A pilgrimage to growth carries us through moors of skelping wind and rain, but that journey is never—never—walked alone. Along the way, we rediscover the resilient magic within us: the rowan tree-like spirit.

“Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase,”

said Dr Martin Luther King Jr, whose birthday we honour this week. After his passing, Coretta Scott King lived those words—walking forward in faith, carrying the dream through loss.

We need one another to rise, to nurture the lilac heather that graces each of our souls. At the gem of Ellisland farm, near Dumfries, Robert Burns composed the classic “Auld Lang Syne”. However, let us also remember Jean Armour Burns, who was steadfast and encouraging. A simple “well done” from Jean was a cup of kindness and validation that carried Rabbie onward.

Embrace the stanza of seasons. Carry your silver and gold—the sheen of your innate worth—and the purpose that calls each of us through the firth and onward to the call of the sea.

Together—as Scots, as a woodland of good will across the glens of the world and as voices in the parliament of humanity—wherever our branches stretch and thistles intertwine, that patch of earth is stronger, wiser and more peaceful. Leaving a bothy cleaner than when it was found is more than etiquette; it is dùthchas—respect for the soul of our heritage. So, with all our shine, let us be mindful stewards of our gift of time, for auld lang syne.

Thank you.