A blessing-wish to the same, and that he must look not at himself and his condition, but at the sweet Saviour.
The Hundred-and-twenty-first Letter.
A blessing-wish to the same, and that he must look not at himself and his condition, but at the sweet Saviour.
Jesus bless you from His sanctuary! In the same, dearly beloved brother!
Once more I have received your written greeting. God be praised for His goodness! From His so near fullness I desire to take that with which I greet you again, and bless you in the Spirit.
Peace be with you, my brother! Jesus, our sweet Life, be the life and the peace of your heart! Let all decrease, let all fall away, only Jesus remain eternally in you your life, your hope, your eternal salvation! Amen. Let your inward part spread itself out in quiet trust, and let your spirit lay itself down sweetly to rest in the motherly bosom of this eternal Love, which has loved us, and loves, and will love, without and against all our desert.
What you let me know, through brother F., concerning your mind, I grasp sufficiently; there is nothing to fear therein. Follow softly and childlikely your drawing in converse or turning toward God, without thinking so exactly upon how you conduct yourself therein. The Lord surely knows what you will and have in view, and your mind, to remain His eternally, and to be found ever more fully in Him, that is acceptable to Him in Jesus. Enough! when you only do not make yourself an unnecessary, yea harmful anxiety, by reflection upon yourself, or by much straining in your exercise: I say, it is enough, when you take a little heed of yourself for this. For the rest, receive with consent the conditions as they are given to you, be they bare or savoury, sad or joyful, and yield yourself to the Love in all, and above all conditions. Now some anxieties can easily arise at times out of the weakness of nature: You receive all from God, with the greatest possible contentment, then it must all work together. The bare and insensible conditions, or where one cannot distinguish much, are often the noblest. Only, as already said, you have no need to look much at yourself and your conditions. Do it childlikely, as you are drawn; do it as you can. Look upon our sweet Saviour, who is so inwardly-near, even when you are most bare; pray to this your Lord and God; admire His love to you; take pleasure in all that He is and does; rejoice over it, that you are His offering, and lose yourself wholly in this abyss of love, which would essentially open itself in your inward part, and take you in! Amen. Jesus!
We all greet you heartily, and remain united, and I remain
Your
Mülheim, the 31st of July, 1749. — eternally devoted weak brother.
German
Der hundertundeinsundzwanzigste Brief.
Segens-Wunsch an denselben, und daß er sich nicht selbst und seine Beschaffenheit, sondern den süßen Heiland ansehen müsse.
JEsus segne dich aus seinem Heiligtum!
In demselben herzlich geliebter Bruder! Abermals habe deinen schriftlichen Gruß noch empfangen.
— 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 July letter of the 31st, 1749, from Mülheim to the same brother as a week before — Johann Peter Schmitz of Solingen (the old print suppresses the name: "to the same"). The argument: a blessing-wish, and that he must look not at himself and his condition, but at the sweet Saviour.
Bless you from His sanctuary. Jesus bless you from His sanctuary. In the same, dearly beloved brother. Once more he has received the brother's written greeting. God be praised for His goodness. From His so near fullness he desires to take that with which he greets him again, and blesses him in the Spirit.
Only Jesus remain. Peace be with you. Jesus, our sweet Life, be the life and the peace of your heart. Let all decrease, let all fall away: only Jesus remain eternally in you — your life, your hope, your eternal salvation. Amen. Let the inward part spread itself out in quiet trust, and let the spirit lay itself down sweetly to rest in the motherly bosom of this eternal Love, which has loved us, and loves, and will love, without and against all our desert.
Do not look at yourself. What the brother has let him know through brother F. concerning his mind, he grasps sufficiently; there is nothing to fear therein. Follow softly and childlikely your drawing toward God, without thinking so exactly upon how you conduct yourself. The Lord surely knows what you will and have in view; the mind to remain His, and to be found ever more fully in Him, is acceptable to Him in Jesus. Enough, when you only do not make yourself an unnecessary, yea harmful anxiety, by reflection upon yourself, or by much straining in your exercise. Receive with consent the conditions as they are given — bare or savoury, sad or joyful — and yield yourself to the Love in all, and above all conditions. The bare and insensible ones are often the noblest. You have no need to look much at yourself. Do it childlikely, as you are drawn; do it as you can. Look upon our sweet Saviour, who is so inwardly-near even when you are most bare; pray to this your Lord and God; lose yourself wholly in this abyss of love. Amen. Jesus!
We remain united. We all greet you heartily, and remain united. Your eternally devoted weak brother. Mülheim, the 31st of July, 1749.
A few words and echoes.
- to the same. an denselben — the same Schmitz as 120.
- dearly beloved brother. Rule B arm 1. Leaf hertzlich WITH tz (folded herzlich).
- from His sanctuary. aus seinem Heiligtum (his ¹ Ps 134,3.).
- your written greeting. deinen schriftlichen Gruß.
- our sweet Life. unser süßes Leben.
- motherly bosom. mütterlichen Schooß — KEEP Schooß.
- brother F. named in the body; not expanded.
- your drawing. deinem Zug — the inward drawing.
- turning toward God. Zukehr zu GOtt — letterspaced G O T T on the leaf, panel GOtt.
- surely knows. weiß schon — modal schon, not temporal already.
- have in view. beäugest (his ² beabsichtigst.).
- to be found in Him. in ihm erfunden zu werden (his ³ Phil 3,9.).
- for this. dafür (his ⁴ davor.).
- conditions. Beschaffenheiten (his ⁵ Befindlichkeiten, Zustände.).
- bare or savoury. bloß oder schmackhaft — without sensible consolation, or with taste.
- then it must all work together. da es dann alles mitwirken muß — consecutive dann, kept.
- insensible. unempfindliche (his ⁶ nicht empfindbare, nicht fühlbare.).
- as already said. wie mehr gesagt (his ⁷ mehrfach.).
- inwardly-near. innigst-nahe.
- your Lord and God. deinen HErrn und GOtt (his ⁸ Joh 20,28.) — brother's your, not Thou.
- His offering. sein Opfer.
- abyss of love. Liebes-Abgrund.
- Amen. Jesus! the leaf's close Amen JEsus! (review-corrected 25 Aug 2026).
- eternally devoted weak brother. ewig-verbundener schwacher Bruder — standalone Dein → Your, never Yours.
trans. Jarred Fenlason · gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiii-121 · all rights reservedEnglish translation © Jarred Fenlason · All rights reserved · gerhardtersteegen.com.