Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

W. Garrett Horder, comp. The Poets’ Bible: New Testament. 1895.

Christ the Healer

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)

SO stood of old the holy Christ

Amidst the suffering throng;

With whom His lightest touch sufficed

To make the weakest strong.

That healing gift he lends to them

Who use it in his name;

The power that filled his garments’ hem

Is ever more the same.

For lo! in human hearts unseen

The Healer dwelleth still,

And they who make his temples clean

The best subserve his will.

The holiest task by Heaven decreed,

An errand all divine,

The burden of our common need

To render less is Thine.

The paths of pain are thine. Go forth

With patience, trust, and hope;

The sufferings of a sin-sick earth

Shall give thee ample scope.

Beside the unveiled mysteries

Of life and death go stand,

With guarded lips and reverent eyes

And pure of heart and hand.

So shalt thou be with power endued

From Him who went about

The Syrian hillsides doing good,

And casting demons out.

That Good Physician liveth yet

Thy Friend and Guide to be;

The Healer of Gennesaret

Shall walk the rounds with thee.