That one must give oneself over to the divine leading only passively and simply.
The Hundred and Thirty-ninth Letter.
That one must give oneself over to the divine leading only passively and simply.
Dear brother!
Both your previous and your latest little letter were welcome to me; for I believe that it pleases the Lord that you give me, from time to time, some news of your inward state. Praise be to the eternal Love, which so gladly makes itself common with us lowly and unworthy children, and will impart itself to us! All is grace.
Give yourself over only passively and simply to all His leading! I say passively — that is: work little yourself, and ever less, as the Lord Himself has shown you, according to your last letter. Bear yourself, too, in everything quite simply, unfeignedly, and without any contrivance; just as you are, and as God sets you, so — and not otherwise — deal also with me, quite simply, plainly and honestly: I hope to do the same.
The more inward and pure the workings of grace become in us, the stiller and more hidden they become; they also have ever less vehemence about them, and do not pour themselves out so much into the sensory, or outer, man.
Your distractions in your outward business are not willing ones, nor especially harmful. The Lord will know well how to wean you from all that is foreign, and, after such seeming distractions, will gladly show Himself near again; for He carries on His work in the spirit, and heeds little what the sensory part intends. Give yourself over to every good pleasure of God, who often lets [us] suffer most when He loves most.
May He be your eternal portion!
In Him I remain, your bound brother.
Mülheim, the 3rd of December 1733.
German
Der hundertundneununddreißigste Brief.
Daß man sich nur leidentlich und einfältig der göttlichen Leitung überlassen müsse.
Lieber Bruder!
So wohl dein voriges, als letztes Brieflein ist mir angenehm gewesen; wie ich dann glaube, daß es dem HErrn gefalle, daß du mir von Zeit zu Zeit einige Nachricht von deinem Inwendigen gibest.
— Opening lines of the original German. The complete transcription of all 605 letters appears in the forthcoming Encounter Press critical edition; Brief 1 is shown in full as a sample.
German text: public domain (1773–75 first edition / 1845 Gesammelte Schriften).
Translator’s notes
What this letter is. A letter of spiritual direction, written 3 December 1733 to Dietrich Reinertz — a Mülheim friend and correspondent (see Letters 118 and 122) — after eleven letters in a row to Christiana Griesenbeck. Reinertz has been sending Tersteegen occasional "news of his inward state," and Tersteegen answers with one clear, quiet rule for the life with God: stop working so hard at it.
Its argument. The whole letter turns on a single word Tersteegen coins and then explains: leidentlich — "passively," or better, "receptively." "Give yourself over only passively and simply to all His leading! I say passively — that is: work little yourself, and ever less." The soul's temptation is to manage its own progress; Tersteegen's counsel is to let God do the leading and to grow ever less busy about it. And this fits the way grace actually matures: "the more inward and pure the workings of grace become in us, the stiller and more hidden they become" — quieter, gentler, with "ever less vehemence." So the loud, forceful experiences a beginner looks for are not the goal; the goal is a deepening stillness.
He then applies it to a worry Reinertz evidently raised — being "distracted" by the demands of his outward work. Tersteegen reassures him: those distractions are "not willing ones" (not chosen, not culpable) "nor especially harmful." "The Lord will know well how to wean you from all that is foreign," and will "gladly show Himself near again" once the busyness passes — because "He carries on His work in the spirit, and heeds little what the sensory part intends." The letter ends on its hardest and tenderest note, the paradox at the center of Tersteegen's whole theology of the cross: "Give yourself over to every good pleasure of God, who often lets us suffer most when He loves most."
A few words and echoes.
- "Passively and simply" (leidentlich und einfältig). The two watchwords. Leidentlich means receptive, willing to be led and even to suffer, rather than active and self-directing; einfältig means single, undivided, without duplicity or contrivance. Together they describe a soul that lets God lead and hides nothing.
- "Work little yourself, and ever less." Not idleness, but the surrender of self-effort — ceasing to steer one's own inner life so that grace can work unhindered (cf. Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God").
- "Plainly and honestly" (schlecht und recht). An old idiom for plain, straightforward honesty — here, that Reinertz should deal with Tersteegen exactly "as you are," without polish or pretense.
- "The stiller and more hidden they become." Tersteegen's mark of maturing grace: it grows quieter, not louder. The showy, forceful stirrings belong to the beginning; depth is silent (cf. 1 Kings 19:12, the "still small voice").
- "Wean you from all that is foreign." God gently detaches the soul from everything that is not Himself — the image is of weaning a child (cf. Psalm 131:2).
- "Who often lets us suffer most when He loves most." The letter's closing paradox — that God's deepest love may express itself in the deepest trial (Hebrews 12:6; Revelation 3:19: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten").
- "May He be your eternal portion." The blessing of the signature — an echo of Psalm 73:26: "God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."
trans. Jarred Fenlason · gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdi-thi-139 · all rights reservedEnglish translation © Jarred Fenlason · All rights reserved · gerhardtersteegen.com.