Letters · Erster Band · Theil II (1773)

Blind trust, hearty love, honest faithfulness must go in a constant circle.

Bd I · Th II · Brief 138 · Der hundertachtunddreißigste Brief

Addressee — An einen Bruder — salutation "Lieber Bruder!": a man, addressed in the intimate du, evidently a leader/elder among the "lieben M. Kindern" (the Mülheim spiritual children), to whom Tersteegen sends greetings from the road. Not further identified (1773-only). Intimate du → English you.
Date — Nymwegen [Nijmegen], 25 June 1738 ("den 25. Junii 1738"; GS/Hartman agree) — written on the journey of Brief 137.
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1773 first edition (Theil II, pp. 406–407), in normalized GS 1845 orthography, collated against the 1845 Gesammelte Schriften (Bd 8) and Hartman's 1819 reprint. All public-domain.

The Hundred-and-Thirty-Eighth Letter.

Blind trust, hearty love, honest faithfulness must go in a constant circle.

Dear brother!

Thus far has the Lord led, through His friendly countenance, for which we will all thank Him. —— Trust: the Lord will further be with us in His unmerited grace.

Tell the dear M. children that they are to thank God with me, and to love Him heartily, because He is so good, and does us good also. In spirit we remain together, unmoved; I can as little forget you and the rest of the children before God as my own self. Ah! I do trust that we shall become ever more a joy — both to the Lord, and to one another. He has shown us already far too many mercies — so that it would be all too inexcusable were we not henceforth to gather all our trust in Him, for the overcoming and the completing. Only, let us not let our powers be robbed by needless distraction and unbelief: but the ground of faith is Jesus for us and in us, and nothing of what we ourselves have or are.

Blind trust, hearty love, honest faithfulness — so must it go, in turn, indeed in a constant circle; and if, at the last, one falls short, one must begin again undaunted at the first, until one stands unmoved in the middle. But because our friend is in a hurry, I close herewith, together with friendly greeting and embrace of love. All the dear M. children are greeted by me most heartily, each and every one, as you know. My travel-companion greets you heartily, along with me. God bless, strengthen, and refresh us in His love, Amen!

Your

faithful-minded brother in the Lord.

Nijmegen, the 25th of June 1738.

❦

German

Der hundertachtunddreißigste Brief.

Blindes Vertrauen, herzliches Lieben, redliche Treu müssen in stetem Zirkel gehen.

Lieber Bruder!

Bis hierzu hat der HErr durch Sein freundliches Angesicht geleitet, wofür wir sämtlich Ihm danken wollen. —— Vertraue, der HErr werde ferner in Seiner unverdienten Gnade mit uns seyn.

— 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, glad note dashed off from Nijmegen on 25 June 1738 — the first of these letters written on the road, during the journey Tersteegen had announced in Brief 137. He is travelling with a companion, "our friend is in a hurry," and he writes back to a brother at home, mostly to send love to the whole fellowship — the "dear M. children," almost certainly his Mülheim circle.

Thus far. It opens on the oldest of travel-blessings, Samuel's Ebenezer: "Thus far has the Lord led, through His friendly countenance, for which we will all thank Him." And the confidence that follows is all gratitude working forward: God "has shown us already far too many mercies" for us not to "gather all our trust toward Him, for the overcoming and the completing." The one caution is against letting "needless distraction and unbelief" rob the soul's strength — for "the ground of faith is Jesus for us and in us, and nothing of what we ourselves have or are."

The circle of three. The image that gives the letter its name is a small masterpiece of the spiritual life: "Blind trust, hearty love, honest faithfulness — so must it go, in turn, indeed in a constant circle; and if, at the last, one falls short, one must begin again undaunted at the first, until one stands unmoved in the middle." The three graces are not a ladder to be climbed once but a wheel to be kept turning; wherever you fall short, you simply begin again — and the still centre of the wheel is where the soul comes to rest.

A few words and echoes.

"Thus far has the Lord led." 1 Samuel 7:12 — "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us"; Samuel's stone Ebenezer, the traveller's thanksgiving.
"The ground of faith is Jesus for us and in us." 1 Corinthians 3:11 ("other foundation can no man lay… which is Jesus Christ") and Colossians 1:27 ("Christ in you, the hope of glory").
"Blind trust, hearty love, honest faithfulness." 1 Corinthians 13:13 — "now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three"; Tersteegen's own triad, set spinning as a circle.
"For the overcoming and the completing." Revelation 3:21 ("To him that overcometh") and Hebrews 12:2 (Jesus "the author and finisher of our faith").

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Erster Band, II. Theil, Brief 138 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdi-thii-138.html.

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