Letters · Erster Band · Theil II (1773)

On the self-surrender of the Child, Jesus — that we too must so surrender ourselves to God, in the purest and holiest desire.

Bd I · Th II · Brief 141 · Der hunderteinundvierzigste Brief

Addressee — An eine Schwester — salutation "Herzlich-geliebte Schwester in JEsu!": a woman, addressed in the intimate du, in difficult "circumstances" (unspecified) with which Tersteegen has "much compassion." Not further identified (1773-only). Intimate du → English you.
Date — Mülheim, 22 October 1738 ("den 22. Oct. 1738"; GS/Hartman agree).
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1773 first edition (Theil II, pp. 415–417), in normalized GS 1845 orthography, collated against the 1845 Gesammelte Schriften (Bd 8) and Hartman's 1819 reprint. All public-domain.

The Hundred-and-Forty-First Letter.

On the self-surrender of the Child, Jesus — that we too must so surrender ourselves to God, in the purest and holiest desire.

Dearly beloved sister in Jesus!

I wish you, for a greeting, the self-surrender of the Child Jesus. Your kind last letter I have received, but have not been able to answer; I have also just now a heavy flux in the head, so that I hold up only with difficulty. Praised be the Child Jesus, who has still taken you by the hand, and goes on leading you according to His counsel!

This His adorable and lovely counsel, and the goal of all His ways, consists in this: that we confess, with thorough truth, that He alone is [all], and none besides — and that we bow, at all times, in the name of Jesus. Soon said, slowly done. But our doing is not even required; rather He Himself will do it in us, and we, as surrendered little children, are only to let Him work with us and in us.

Do you well recognize, dear sister, the evil bent even in good people — that one wants, namely, to have holiness and all good as a good that we possess for ourselves; yea, that we have acquired, or at least that has been given us as a fruit of our sincere desire? And this lies so deep, and is self-will. Therefore I have often said that one must not let the purest and holiest desire go forth with vehemence, but let it sink back again, gently and humbly, into the ground from which it arises, and there, with a childlike, sweet trust, lie still and await what God may be willing to give. In this way no soul shall come to shame, let it go ever so strangely topsy-turvy.

But if one does not sink, and wills instead to force it through in the vehemence of desire or in one's own working, then one must often experience — nay, perhaps even do — the very opposite of that good which one so heartily wishes; for the Lord will have nothing prescribed to Him, nor wrung from Him; rather it is sheer grace. This goes step by step, for God is infinitely long-suffering. Did the soul see, at the beginning, the defilement of its own doing and desire, it would fall into a false sloth or despondency.

But souls whom God is leading to the childlike surrender — these grow faint, restless, and wretched as soon as they step out of the child-state; but as soon as they again surrender themselves, blindly, and sink, then little by little their peace, trust, and strength return; for they must will to have, to be able, or to do nothing in themselves, but to remain in the present, and to rejoice that Jesus is so good and so holy, and will make all things good in them — without troubling themselves how and when that shall come to pass. They, the little children, do also themselves seek to do it as well as they understand; if one shows them their faults, they gladly will amend them: their misery displeases them, but does not disquiet them, for they are willing enough to be little, and possess in Jesus all perfect holiness. That God would make you, along with me, into such a little child, I wish from my inmost heart. For the rest, I have much compassion with your circumstances; but I know that God's hand is under it, and that He cares for you. Now I can no more. I greet you heartily.

Your

devoted brother.

Mülheim, the 22nd of October 1738.

❦

German

Der hunderteinundvierzigste Brief.

Von der Ueberlassung des Kindleins, JEsus, daß auch wir uns so an GOtt in dem reinesten und heiligsten Verlangen überlassen müssen.

Herzlich-geliebte Schwester in JEsu!

Ich wünsche dir die Ueberlassung des Kindleins JEsu zum Gruß. Deinen angenehmen letzteren habe empfangen, aber nicht beantworten können; habe auch jetzt einen starken Fluß am Kopf, daß mich mit Mühe aufhalte.

— 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 22 October 1738 to a beloved sister in some hard "circumstances," written by a man who is himself ill — "a heavy flux in the head, so that I hold up only with difficulty." Its image is the Christ-child: the Jesus who, as an infant, let Himself be carried, held, and led — and who is the pattern of the "self-surrender" Tersteegen wishes his friend as a greeting.

The Child's surrender, which He works in us. The goal of all God's ways, he says, is a simple confession — "that He alone is all, and none besides" — and a simple posture: "that we bow, at all times, in the name of Jesus" (Philippians 2). "Soon said, slowly done" — and here is the relief: even this is not laid on us as a task. "Our doing is not even required; He Himself will do it in us, and we, as surrendered little children, are only to let Him work with us and in us."

The hidden self-will, and the way of sinking. Then comes the letter's sharpest insight — "the evil bent even in good people": the wish to hold even holiness "as a good we possess, have earned, or that was given as a fruit of our desire." "This lies so deep, and is self-will." The remedy is not more effort but less grasping: "one must not let the purest and holiest desire go forth with vehemence, but let it sink back gently into the ground from which it arises, and there, with a childlike sweet trust, lie still, and await what God may give." Try to force it, and "you often get the very opposite… the Lord will have nothing wrung from Him — it is sheer grace." The soul led this way goes faint whenever it leaves the child-state, and finds its "peace, trust, and strength" again only when it "sinks blindly" once more: "willing to be little, and possessing in Jesus all perfect holiness."

A few words and echoes.

"He alone is all… we bow in the name of Jesus." Philippians 2:10–11 — "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and that every tongue should confess."
"As surrendered little children… willing to be little." Matthew 18:3–4 — "except ye… become as little children"; the whole letter is a meditation on the Kindlein.
"Let it sink back… lie still with a childlike sweet trust." Psalm 131:2 — "surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother."
"The Lord will have nothing wrung from Him — it is sheer grace." Zechariah 4:6 — "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord."
"The self-surrender of the Child Jesus." Luke 2:40, 52 — the child who "grew, and waxed strong in spirit"; the infancy as the very image of trustful dependence.

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Erster Band, II. Theil, Brief 141 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdi-thii-141.html.

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