Catherine Marshall: The Helper
“When we try it on our own, we are seeking to usurp the Helper’s place. Attempting in the flesh to convict another of sin results in wreckage—defensiveness, anger, estrangement, loss of self-worth, defeatism, and depression—whereas when the Spirit does this corrective work, it is ‘good’ hurt, the kind that leaves no damage, never plunges us into despair or hopelessness, and is always healing in the end.”—Catherine Marshall in The Helper (Chosen Books, 1978), pp. 214-215.
Almost fifty years ago, when our medical practice at Children’s Hospital was just starting, my husband and I were not as busy, so we could go downtown for lunch and perhaps browse Cokesbury Bookstore before returning to the hospital.
One day, I saw a book by Catherine Marshall, titled The Helper, on the front sales table for $2. I remembered she had written A Man Called Peter about her husband, a Scottish immigrant who became the chaplain of the United States Senate but died prematurely. I particularly loved the movie, so I could not resist the bargain. I paid the two dollars, and it changed my life.
I did not understand the Holy Spirit. Then, suddenly, I was presented with a part of God I could relate to—one who was always with me. However, I had great difficulty relating to God, the Father, and Jesus. One was a kind older man with a beard in the sky, and the other was a television evangelist flipping through the Bible who wanted to save me.
For years, I held on to the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Helper, always beside me, guiding me whenever I chose. This sustained me for a long time until I could develop a deeper relationship with the other two members of the Trinity.
I am constantly amazed by how God, the Holy Spirit, works: a Presbyterian minister’s daughter I would never meet, who grew up in Keyser, West Virginia, with my father, the son of the Methodist minister in the area; a slow time in our practice; a Methodist bookstore; a bargain table; a New York Times bestseller; a movie; and two dollars.
My favorite story by Catherine Marshall was about answered prayer. She prayed for patience, and God gave her the slowest possible housekeeper. I wept upon hearing of Catherine Marshall’s death at age sixty-eight on March 18th, 1983, just before Holy Week.
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Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/