300 Days for 300 Years: A Commemorative Devotional of the Presbytery of Philadelphia
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Rev. Scot Barton Honorably Retired, Minister Member of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, Poet, Singer
- First Reading: Deuteronomy 34:1-12
- Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17
- Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
- Gospel Reading Matthew 22:34-46
A Poem for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The pastor prayed for Dr. Hatch
Who’d known he could not stay detached
From human need, and thus has dared
To give, to those he might, God’s care.
I know not if he calls it such;
I know not, if he prays, how much,
Or if he thinks that he’s been called;
But this I know: that writer Paul,
When speaking of the tender nurse
Whose gentle care for children mercy
Shows, cares more for deeds than words,
And giving self is grace conferred.
Poem Inspiration: Dr. Steven Hatch is a volunteer at the Ebola clinic in Suakoko, Liberia. A couple of years ago, a gravely ill pastor insisted on praying for the American doctor, which he did just before he died. Story courtesy of the New York Times by Sheri Fink, October. 16, 2014
