On sweet littleness, and the contentment that arises from it.
Addressee, date, and source
The Thirteenth Letter.
On sweet littleness, and the contentment that arises from it.
Worthy sister!
If the Lord has perhaps so ordered it that a word spoken by me has served you, then you already know that all good is from the Lord, and that we have only to look to Him alone. Take nothing, either from me or from any creature, except what leads you to God, and quiets and enlarges your ground — not your sensuality. —
I do believe, though, that I recognize your calling in general: the Lord will have you wholly for Himself, and unite Himself with your spirit by the way and drawing of the heart, parting you from all life and lodging in the created and in your own self. What mercy! Follow childlike the gentle inclination of the heart toward His inward nearness — an inclination that you must rather find in yourselves than make. Love and follow the Lord simply, without wanting to distinguish so exactly how and where you are, so that the way may be cut off from self-love. We must want to be, not high, but little — yet gladly have as much love to God as the most perfect. Faint-heartedness is indeed of no use; but sweet littleness is the nearest way to the highest degrees of union with God.
What the Lord gives us, or does not give, we must always be right well content with Him, and press ourselves into nothing else; yet also fix ourselves fast in no occupation or exercise, but only in God. Light or darkness, savor or dryness — all must be good to us, when the Lord gives it. We ourselves must neither clothe nor strip ourselves. To Him and His workings we give ourselves up in the present, without so much reflecting on high and low. Ah! we have nothing to do but to please our God — or, better said, to be content with Him who is, who He is. To Him, our dearest Immanuel, I offer you up from the heart, as also your dear husband.
German
Der dreizehnte Brief.
Vom süßen Kleinseyn, und der daraus entstehenden Zufriedenheit.
Werthe Schwester!
Hat der HErr es etwa gefüget, daß ein von mir geredtes Wort euch gedienet, so wisset ihr schon, daß alles Gute vom HErrn ist, und wir nur auf Ihn allein zu sehen haben.
— 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 short letter to a married “worthy sister,” on the theme its own title names: “sweet littleness” (Kleinseyn) — the glad willingness to be small — and the deep contentment that grows out of it. It is one of Tersteegen’s clearest statements of holy passivity: that union with God is reached downward, by becoming little, not upward by achievement.
A few words and echoes.
- All good is from the Lord. James 1:17 — “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.”
- We must want to be, not high, but little… the nearest way to the highest union. Matthew 18:4 (“whosoever… shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest”) and Matthew 11:29 (“I am meek and lowly in heart”) — the paradox that the way up is down.
- We ourselves must neither clothe nor strip ourselves. The image of holy passivity — we are the clay, not the potter (Isaiah 45:9; Romans 9:20–21); we neither add to nor take from what God is doing, but give Him “a free hand.”
- Content with Him who is, who He is. Exodus 3:14 — “I AM THAT I AM.” The soul’s rest is not in God’s gifts but in His sheer being — He who simply is.
- Our dearest Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 / Matthew 1:23 — “they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”
trans. Jarred Fenlason · gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdi-thii-013 · all rights reservedEnglish translation © Jarred Fenlason · All rights reserved · gerhardtersteegen.com.