That one must wait without fear, workless and will-less, upon the revelation of God.
The Seventy-first Letter.
That one must wait without fear, workless and will-less, upon the revelation of God.
In the grace of God, beloved sister!
It is dear to me that I have seen from your little letter how that it is still your concern to wait upon the gracious revelation of God in you; wherein certainly our true blessedness and the ground of all virtues is alone to be found. In coarse own-working one never recognizes oneself; but God's light discovers to us the subtlest own, when we hold still to the same: Therefore, because you have in your being-still a sincere longing to go out of yourself and out of the created, and to find God in you, so you need not be fearful therein. Remain only so workless and will-less lying before God in your heart, simple, bare and surrendered! The Lord will already make it well, and soon gather all your senses and inclinations to Himself; which I wish you from the heart.
Because you among people easily fall into disturbance and temptation, so is solitude certainly quite serviceable to you; yet I would not therefore like that you should go quite to work according to your own will, but wait until the Lord helps you out of it. He, the dear Saviour Jesus, knows the right time. You must go to work among your household so, as if you were with Jesus in solitude: He will support you and lead you by the hand. The dear Jesus will help you through everything, which I ask of Him, and will ask. I remember you
Your Mülheim, weak fellow-combatant. the 16th of March, 1764.
German
Der einundsiebzigste Brief.
Daß man ohne Furcht, Wirk- und Willenlos auf die Offenbahrung GOttes warten müsse.
In der Gnade GOttes geliebte Schwester!
Es ist mir lieb, daß ich aus deinem Briefgen ersehen, wie daß dirs noch darum zu thun ist, auf die gnädige Offenbarung GOttes in dir zu warten; worin gewiß unsere wahre Seligkeit und der Grund zu allen Tugenden allein zu finden ist.
— 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 March letter of the 16th, 1764, from Mülheim to Sophie Christine Lütges. It is dear to him that her little letter shows it is still her concern to wait upon the gracious revelation of God in her — therein true blessedness and the ground of all virtues. In coarse own-working one never recognizes oneself; God's light discovers the subtlest own when we hold still. Because she has in her being-still a sincere longing to go out of herself and out of the created and to find God in her, she need not be fearful: remain workless and will-less lying before God in the heart, simple, bare and surrendered. The Lord will already make it well, and gather her senses and inclinations. Among people she easily falls into disturbance and temptation, so solitude is quite serviceable; yet she should not go quite to work according to her own will, but wait until the Lord helps her out. The dear Saviour knows the right time; she must go to work among her household as if she were with Jesus in solitude. He will support her and lead her by the hand. He remembers her. Mülheim, the 16th of March, 1764.
Wait without fear, workless and will-less. It is still her concern to wait upon the gracious revelation of God in her. In coarse own-working one never recognizes oneself; but God's light discovers the subtlest own, when we hold still to the same. Because she has in her being-still a sincere longing to go out of herself and out of the created, and to find God in her, she need not be fearful therein. Remain only so workless and will-less lying before God in the heart, simple, bare and surrendered. The Lord will already make it well, and soon gather all her senses and inclinations to Himself.
Solitude, and the household as if with Jesus. Because among people she easily falls into disturbance and temptation, solitude is certainly quite serviceable; yet he would not therefore like that she should go quite to work according to her own will, but wait until the Lord helps her out of it. He, the dear Saviour Jesus, knows the right time. She must go to work among her household so, as if she were with Jesus in solitude: He will support her and lead her by the hand. The dear Jesus will help her through everything, which he asks of Him, and will ask. He remembers her. Mülheim, the 16th of March, 1764.
A few words and echoes.
- your little letter. it is still your concern to wait upon the gracious revelation of God in you.
- true blessedness. and the ground of all virtues, alone to be found therein.
- coarse own-working. one never recognizes oneself.
- the subtlest own. God's light discovers it, when we hold still to the same.
- being-still. a sincere longing to go out of yourself and out of the created.
- workless and will-less. remain lying before God in your heart, simple, bare and surrendered.
- the Lord will already make it well. and gather your senses and inclinations to Himself.
- among people. you easily fall into disturbance and temptation.
- solitude is quite serviceable. yet do not go quite to work according to your own will.
- wait until the Lord helps you out. He, the dear Saviour, knows the right time.
- among your household. as if you were with Jesus in solitude.
- He will support you and lead you by the hand. and help you through everything.
- I remember you.
- Your / Mülheim, weak fellow-combatant. the 16th of March, 1764.
trans. Jarred Fenlason · gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiv-071 · all rights reservedEnglish translation © Jarred Fenlason · All rights reserved · gerhardtersteegen.com.