Liberty

“Oh, do not be disturbed, my child; remain in your inner solitude,
with a gentle and quiet spirit and undeluded senses.
Let come what may, but guard your peace.
Nothing is worth your disturbance, for I, Jesus, am in you.
What good will the world and all its devils do for you?
Have peace in me that I may rest  in you.
You speak to me that I might come to you and prepare you;
now, stretch forth your hands and let me make it so!
Your own will, your own worry your own striving, your own work
--  all of this disturbs your peace and makes it so that I  cannot work in you.
Only behold the little flowers in clear, Summer weather:
they keep very still then open their petals.
So the Sun shines upon them and works its gentle way
and this, too, is what I would do if only you would let me.

Am I not enough, Mine own?
Enough, Mine own, for Thee?
Hath the world its palace towers,
Garden glades of magic flowers
Where thou fain wouldst be?
Fair things and false are there,
False things but fair.
All shalt thou find at last
Only in Me.
Am I not enough, Mine own?
I, forever and alone,
I, needing Thee?”

~ Gerhard Tersteegen (1697 – 1769), was a German Reformed religious writer and protestant mystic. He was born at Moers, a Protestant enclave in the midst of a Roman Catholic country. He came under the influence of Wilhelm Hoffman, a pietistic revivalist, and devoted himself to writing and public speaking, withdrawing in 1728 from all secular pursuits and giving himself entirely to religious work. Tersteegen sought to experience “inner liberty” (a transformed life based on God’s indwelling presence) for seven years before finally experiencing a breakthrough in 1724, at which time he consecrated himself to God as attested to in his testimony. He soon set up a school for poor children and began composing textbooks of instruction, which included a catechism of Christian doctrine.

There were times when he was almost reclusive, but it was during this time of study, prayer and writing, that his experience deepened. Though he had abandoned tea, coffee, and all but one meal per day, he began living in a more balanced way. Concerned about the poverty and disease that was rampant, he began to learn the trade of a chemist and began dispensing at no cost healing remedies to the sick. He also found homes for the poor and unemployed and taught them the trade of weaving. He also spent much time translating the stories of saints of former times to show that God had been working in the past and to teach the gospel through their lives. Catholics in the area were unhappy with his efforts and convinced the state government to ban his efforts, and thus he wasn’t allowed to preach for ten years, though he continued to privately minister to the “quiet of the land.”