Catherine Marshall - A Man Called Peter

Peter

Peter

CATHERINE MARSHALL

A Man Called Peter by Catherine Marshall

Copyright 1951 by Catherine Marshall

Copyright 1979 by Catherine Marshall LeSourd

Copyright 1996 by Marshall-LeSourd LLC

Published by Evergreen Farm Publishing

P.O. Box 77, Lincoln, VA 20160, USA

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, digitally stored, or transmitted in any form without written permission from Evergreen Farm Publishing. Contact publisher at .

ISBN: 978-1-68370-179-8 (printed softcover)

ISBN: 978-1-68370-180-4 (ebook)

EPUB Edition

Cover design by Larry Taylor

Interior design by Beth Shagene & Jamie Foley

Ebook production by Book Genesis, Inc. & BB eBooks

To Mother and Dad,

who took Peter into their hearts as a son

S ince Peter Marshall left us to be at home in our Fathers house, I have often dreamed of him. But one dream was different from all the rest. It had the feel of reality about it.

I dreamed that I was allowed to visit Peter briefly, to see him in his new setting. I found him working in a rose garden, surrounded by those perfect hybrid tea roses he always wanted to grow.

After a while, he said playfully, I know perfectly well what youve been doing, Catherine. Youre writing a book. Now, nowno exposs! What youre doing to me shouldnt happen to a dog!

Then in a more serious vein, Its all right, Kate. Go ahead and write it. Tell it all, if it will prove to people that a man can love the Lord and not be a sissy.

So, in the months since then, I have written it. Reliving and recording parts of the life that Peter and I shared has been a joyous task. The presence of Christ has shed glory on even the hard-to-bear parts of it.

I hope that you will enjoy it, and that by the time you have come to the last page, you will know that if God can do so much for a man called Peter, He can do as much for you.

C. M.

Washington, DC

April 29, 1951

N o man lives to himself or dies to himselfor writes a book by himself. To a host of friends, all the way from Washington to South Africa, who patiently answered many questions and joyously reminisced of their association with Peter Marshall, I owe a great debt of gratitude.

Specifically, I offer my appreciation to Miss Alma Deane Fuller, who listened patiently and often and counseled wisely; to Miss Sara Leslie for her editorial work; to Miss Ruth Welty, Mr. Miles Clark, Judge J. Russell Leech, and Mr. Robert Ingraham for their constructive criticism; to Dr. Richard Lee Silvester, who checked chapter 14 from the physicians standpoint; to Mr. John D. Rhodes, the chief of the official reporters of debates in the United States Senate, for his suggestions on chapter 18; to Dr. George Docherty, who checked on Scottish geography and customs; to my secretary, Mrs. William D. Redding, who typed with her heart as well as her hands and who staunchly sought to preserve some shreds of my reputation by correcting my capricious spelling; to Peter John Marshall, who gave up many an evenings fun for Mommys book.

Since Dr. Marshall had no idea that a book of his sermons would ever be published, the sermon manuscripts he left behind were not completely annotated. Often he gave informal oral credit to others from the pulpit. Such statements were not always incorporated in his manuscripts. Thus the task of uncovering all sources of indebtedness to others has been a difficult one. In preparing the present volume I have undertaken the most careful and conscientious research and in footnotes throughout the book have given proper credit in each instance in which I was able to discover that quoted material had been used. It is possible, however, that I have not been able to identify every single instance of this kind. If, therefore, there should remain any unacknowledged quotation in the sermons or the sermon excerpts in this book, I shall welcome information to that effect and shall be glad to credit such material to the proper source in future editions of the book.

Above Time and Circumstance

For ye shall go out with joy...

and it shall be to the L ORD for a name,

for an everlasting sign

that shall not be cut off.

ISAIAH 55:1213

T he morning was bleak and cold. A damp, penetrating wind ruffled the steel-gray waters of the Potomac, chased bits of paper and debris down the broad, roped-off expanse of Pennsylvania Avenue, and whistled around the dome of the Capitol.

Everywhere, Washington wore an air of expectancy. The hillocks of lumber, which had been piled for weeks along the Avenue, had finally been fashioned into a grandstand and bleachers. Every street corner was garnished with the navy blue of District policemen. The gray lampposts were decorated with small American flags and pictures of Truman and Barkley. Red-white-and-blue bunting was everywhere. In a few hours forty thousand marchers and more than forty floats would form a column seven miles long in honor of the president of the United States. It was Inauguration Day, January 20, 1949.

Before the stately Capitol building with its wide-spreading wings, I sat with 120,000 other people on crudely built benches watching the dignitaries taking their places on the special platform before us. Radio, television, and motion-picture technicians scurried up and down their newly built platforms, adjusting and testing their equipment. At twelve noon the eyes and ears of most Americans would be centered on this scene.

I knew that in the old Senate chamber, with its plum-colored leather seats and green-carpeted aisles, Peter Marshall, the Senate chaplain, called by many a reporter the conscience of the Senate, was at that moment praying. His simple, sincere, down-to-earth prayers had been having an increasingly profound effect on the senators. But it was an intimate thingnot the kind of thing a man talks about readily.

I could picture the scene, as I had often seen itthe sudden hush, the way the men reverently dropped their heads as Peter prayed:

God of our fathers in whom we trust and by whose guidance and grace this nation was born, bless the senators of these United States at this important time in history, and give them all things needful to the faithful discharge of their responsibilities.

We pray especially today for our president, and also for him who will preside over this chamber. Give to them good health for the physical strains of their office, good judgment for the decisions they must make, wisdom beyond their own, and clear understanding for the problems of this difficult hour.

We thank Thee for their humble reliance upon Thee. May they go often to the throne of grace as we commend them both to Thy loving care and Thy guiding hand.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Soon I spied Peter marching, hat in hand, with the senators, into the seats provided for them to the left of the inaugural stand. He was between Senator Lucas and Senator Vandenberg. The expression on his face suggested that he was particularly pleased about something.

From where I was sitting, I could just see Peter and the senators well enough to guess that much quiet camaraderie was going on in that section of the stand.