A wish of blessing to a sick man. God Himself is the Why of His goodness and love over us.
The Hundred-and-fourteenth Letter.
A wish of blessing to a sick man. God Himself is the Why of His goodness and love over us.
In our sweet Saviour Jesus, dearly beloved brother!
Although I have had no news this week from S. of your condition, I find myself nevertheless constrained to greet you heartily with these lines: Yea, I desire to do so before the Face and in the power of the highly blessed Name of Jesus, the overflowing fountain-well of all life and well-being. Ah Jesus! do Thou Thyself bless and visit my dear sick brother, remain with and in his spirit, and be unto him everything that he needs in his present condition!
Dear brother! God is good; and He is good to you also; that I know: And the Why of His goodness, love, and favor toward us is Himself, and not we or anything of ours. So long as we seek the Why, or something good, in ourselves, so long are we straitened and restless, and are as it were thrust back. Sink yourself down only as one wholly naked, with sweet childlike trust, into this friendly Man-loving Being, without looking about after yourself. God Himself will henceforth be only your object: He will be everything to you, and all the rest shall be to you as nothing. Then give yourself over, my brother, without misgiving, to His ever-loving hand and leading. Leave everything there; leave yourself there; so will His divine bosom take you into Himself, and delight you with Himself: May He, the Faithful, work it Himself in you!
I greet you once more in devoted love. My household-companions and the rest of the children here greet you likewise earnestly; we all unite our prayer with yours in the Lord. — — I remain through grace
Your
Mülheim, the 12th of June, 1749. — faithfully devoted weak brother.
German
Der hundertundvierzehnte Brief.
Segens-Wunsch an einen Kranken. GOtt ist selbst das Warum seiner Güte und Liebe über uns.
In unserem süßen Heilande JEsu herzlich geliebter Bruder!
Ob ich gleich von S. diese Woche keine Nachricht von deinem Zustand bekommen habe, so finde mich dennoch gedrungen, dich herzlich zu grüssen mit diesen Zeilen: Ja, ich begehre solches zu thun vor dem Angesichte und in der Kraft des hochgebenedeiten Namens JEsu, dem überfließenden Quell-Brunnen alles Lebens und Wohllebens.
— 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 June letter of the 12th, 1749, from Mülheim to the same brother as a week before — Johann Peter Schmitz of Solingen (the old print suppresses the name). He has had no news from S. this week of the condition. The argument: a wish of blessing to a sick man; God Himself is the Why of His goodness and love over us.
The Name, and the blessing. He desires to greet him before the Face and in the power of the highly blessed Name of Jesus, the overflowing fountain-well of all life and well-being. Then the cry: do Thou Thyself bless and visit my dear sick brother; remain with and in his spirit, and be unto him everything that he needs.
God Himself is the Why. God is good, and He is good to this brother also. The Why of His goodness, love, and favor toward us is Himself, and not we or anything of ours. So long as we seek the Why, or something good, in ourselves, so long are we straitened and restless, and are as it were thrust back. Sink down only as one wholly naked, with sweet childlike trust, into this friendly Man-loving Being, without looking about after yourself. God Himself will henceforth be only your object: He will be everything, and all the rest as nothing. Then give yourself over, without misgiving, to His ever-loving hand. Leave everything there; leave yourself there; so will His bosom take you in. May the Faithful work it Himself.
The household. He greets him once more in devoted love. The household and the rest of the children here greet him likewise; they unite their prayer with his in the Lord. Mülheim, the 12th of June, 1749.
A few words and echoes.
- a wish of blessing to a sick man. Segens-Wunsch an einen Kranken — the argument's address, name-suppressed.
- the Why. das Warum — God Himself is the Why, not something in us.
- dearly beloved brother. Rule B, arm 1, with the In unserem süßen Heilande JEsu prefix.
- from S. von S. — the print's initial; the place is Solingen.
- highly blessed Name. hochgebenedeiten Namens.
- fountain-well of all life and well-being. Quell-Brunnen alles Lebens und Wohllebens.
- with and in his spirit. mit- und in seinem Geist — the leaf's elliptical mit-.
- favor. Gewogenheit.
- Man-loving Being. Menschliebende Wesen.
- your object. dein Vorwurf — the old sense, object of attention, not reproach.
- henceforth. hinführo — kept.
- Then give yourself over. Ueberlaß dich dann — consecutive dann, kept.
- Leave everything there; leave yourself there. Laß alles da; laß dich selbst da.
- the Faithful. der Getreue.
- household-companions. Hausgenossen.
- faithfully devoted weak brother. treu-verbundener schwacher Bruder — standalone Dein → Your, never Yours.
trans. Jarred Fenlason · gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiii-114 · all rights reservedEnglish translation © Jarred Fenlason · All rights reserved · gerhardtersteegen.com.