Letters · Zweiter Band · Theil III (1775)

Comfort and instruction to a sick woman, and an encouragement to love.

Bd II · Th III · Brief 43 · Der dreiundvierzigste Brief

Addressee — To Helene Wuesten, at Solingen — wife of Johann Wuesten, a merchant of Solingen; written to her in a serious illness. Addressed as an esteemed friend in the polite plural (E. E. = Ew. Ehren; euch/ihr) → English you; the letter closes with a formal subscription (Ew. Wohl-Edl. ergebenster Diener und geneigter Freund.). Salutation In der Gnade JEsu, werthgeschätzte Freundin! → "In the grace of Jesus, esteemed friend!"
Date — Mülheim, 16 January 1744 — the print dateline reads Mülheim, den 16. Jan. 1744.
Provenance — *Translated from the public-domain 1775 first edition (Theil III, pp. 129–130), in normalized GS-1845 house orthography. All rendered words are from public-domain prints.

The Forty-Third Letter.

Comfort and instruction to a sick woman, and an encouragement to love.

In the grace of Jesus, esteemed friend!

With hearty compassion I have learned, through our friend S., that it has pleased the Lord to lay you once more upon the sick-bed. How it now stands with you I greatly long to hear.

I take part, in sincere love, in your weal and woe, and do not fail to offer up your state, both spiritual and bodily, to our good Saviour, according to the grace which He Himself must give. I trust that your sickness is not unto death, but for the glorifying of God. His divine Majesty shows indeed that it is His absolute will to have you henceforth, without exception, for Himself. May He Himself give you a clear sight and inward impression of His lovable purposes concerning you, so that you will gladly give yourself over to Him. The love of Jesus must be your medicine.

Then, be it for life or for death, expect nothing from yourself, nor from any creature. As one wretched, naked and helpless — such as you are — cast yourself at the Saviour's feet; embrace them in tender love, with Mary Magdalene, so that He may at the least draw you after Him, when you could not run after Him. Do not let Him go, come what may! He is inwardly, unspeakably near, even when He seems far off. Blessed dying and holy living are to be found with Him, and with none else; only love, and then He gives it gladly. Love Him, even when He seems not to love! Love, even when you feel no love! Love, and so you will learn to love. Wait for nothing! Begin with love, and all the rest will follow. I greet you heartily, and your worthy husband likewise, and hope soon to receive a welcome report of your recovery — in which hope I remain

Your Well-Noble Honour's most devoted servant and affectionate friend.

Mülheim, the 16th of January 1744.

❦

German

Der dreiundvierzigste Brief.

Trost und Unterricht an eine Kranke, und Aufmunterung zur Liebe.

In der Gnade JEsu, werthgeschätzte Freundin!

Mit herzlichem Mitleiden hab ich durch den Freund S. vernommen, daß es dem HErrn beliebet hat, E. E. aufs Neue auf das Kranken-Bett nieder zu legen.

— 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 brief letter of consolation, written the same week as the letter to Sven Rosén (the forty-fourth), to Helene Wuesten of Solingen — the wife of the merchant Johann Wuesten — who had fallen seriously ill again. A mutual friend, "S.", had brought Tersteegen the news. In a few sentences he does three things: he reframes the illness, he prescribes the one medicine, and he presses home a single command — love.

Tersteegen will not read the illness as a verdict. Echoing the word over Lazarus, he writes: "I trust that your sickness is not unto death, but for the glorifying of God." Even should it go otherwise, the counsel holds: "be it for life or for death, expect nothing from yourself, nor from any creature." What God is doing, he says, is simply claiming her: "it is His absolute will to have you henceforth, without exception, for Himself." Seen so, the sick-bed is not abandonment but a drawing-in. And with that comes the one medicine: "The love of Jesus must be your medicine." The posture he counsels is the posture of the woman in Luke's gospel: "cast yourself at the Saviour's feet; embrace them in tender love, with Mary Magdalene." If she is too weak to follow, He will carry: "so that He may at the least draw you after Him, when you could not run after Him" — the Draw me, we will run after thee of the Song of Songs. And the one thing not to do is to loosen the hold: "Do not let Him go, come what may! He is inwardly, unspeakably near, even when He seems far off."

The letter gathers to a threefold imperative — the third Love set off in the print's own emphasis: "Love Him, even when He seems not to love! Love, even when you feel no love! Love, and so you will learn to love." Feeling is not the condition of loving; loving is the way into feeling. "Wait for nothing! Begin with love, and all the rest will follow." He closes with greetings to her and to her husband, and the hope of good news of her recovery.

A few words and echoes.

your sickness is not unto death, but for the glorifying of God. John 11:4.
with Mary Magdalene — at the Saviour's feet. Luke 7:37–38, the woman who washed His feet (traditionally identified with Mary Magdalene).
draw you after Him… run after Him. Song of Solomon 1:4 — "Draw me, we will run after thee".
any creature. Tersteegen writes einigem Geschöpf, an older einig = "any, any single."
a clear sight. helles Gesicht — a bright, clear view.
Your Well-Noble Honour's… The subscription (Ew. Wohl-Edl. = Ew. WohlEdlen) is the period's respectful form of address to a burgher household — rendered here by the parallel English courtesy.

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Zweiter Band, III. Theil, Brief 43 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiii-043.html.

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