Comfort to a brother standing in suffering and purification.

The Hundred-and-Thirty-First Letter.

Comfort to a brother standing in suffering and purification.

My dear brother!

From your letter I see your troubles of mind, of which one could indeed have spoken more closely by word of mouth; but the Lord is near, who in everything gladly imparts counsel and help to His sick and weak sheep, of whom you are one: and with this I have surely said to you, for comfort and strengthening, a great thing — yes, enough. Are you His little sheep, then the good Shepherd cares for you; and the sicker and weaker you are, so much the more carefully does He have you in His eye, and will gladly hold you in His hand, so that no alien power shall tear you out of it.

This, then, is your work: that you lay yourself — with resignation and trust, sick and wretched as you are — into the Shepherd's hand, look upon the good Shepherd now and then, and for the rest let Him do with you as He will. Otherwise, your present state appears to me as a little purification from the dear heavenly Father, in that He, out of pure goodness, lets you feel a little your want, your darkness and unfitness, yes your misery and corruption; to which the bodily circumstances are meant to be of help, so as to humble you the more through such an experience, and to cleanse you of hidden self-will and evils, that you may be so much the fitter to dwell forever with God. Now do not become fainthearted at this, but rather rejoice over it in faith, that God is carrying on His work in you; be heartily glad that He discloses to you your nothingness and misery with pain — it is the Father who does it so. John 15. He would have us little and pure. Sink, then, sink into that blessed sweet littleness, where you live by pure grace; let yourself be led out of yourself; seek and behold with delight, in God, the holiness and the good which you do not find in yourself. O how lovely is our Nothing and God's Allness! In outward things, and also in devotional exercises, do your duties as you are accustomed, so far as bodily weakness allows, even though it seem as if you did them only out of habit.

At the beginning, offer up your doing to the Lord with a glance of faith; for the rest, do yourself no violence in trying to be devout. I will, through God's grace, commend you to the good Shepherd; do you likewise! I greet heartily you and the rest of the household, and remain

Your

devoted brother.

Mülheim, the 22nd of November 1737.

German

Der hunderteinunddreißigste Brief.

Trost an einen in Leiden und Läuterung stehenden Bruder.

Mein lieber Bruder!

Aus deinem Brief sehe ich deine Gemüths-Beschwernisse, worüber man zwar mündlich näher hätte reden können; allein der HErr ist nahe, der in allem gerne Rath und Hülfe mittheilet Seinen kranken und schwachen Schafen, deren du eines mit bist: und hiemit hab' ich dir ja zum Trost und Stärkung ein Großes …

— 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).