A German pietist worth knowing

I would like to introduce you to a writer with a totally different style and message from what most Christians read today. Gerhard Tersteegen was pietist mystic who lived from 1697 to 1769. Though he was a simple weaver by profession he had a widespread and profound ministry, both by his travels and by his writings. Unless you read German it is very difficult to access his works. There is only one major work on Tersteegen in English that I know of. It contained an account of his life and selections from his writings. It was published in 1832 and the author is Samuel Jackson

God is a meek and friendly Being ; He is love ; and

he that abideth in love, abideth in God, and God in him.

(1 John, iv. 16.) Be therefore also meek, friendly, and

kind in thy whole conduct and deportment. Let the

wrathful and opposite powers of thy nature, be softened by

the Spirit of the love of Jesus, the obduracy of thy temper

be calmed, and thy obstinate self-will be bent and rendered

pliable ; and as often as anything of an opposite nature

springs up in thee, immerse thyself immediately into the

the sweet element of meekness and love. God is a placid Being, and dwells in a serene eternity ; therefore thy mind must become like a clear and silent

streamlet, in which the glory of God can reflect and pourtray

itself. Hence thou must avoid all disturbance, confusion, and irritation, inwardly and outwardly. There is nothing in the world deserves being troubled about ; even

thy past faults must only humble, but not disturb thee.

" God is in his holy temple, (Hab.iii. 20.) let all that is

within thee keep silence before him !; silent with thy lips,

silent with thy desires and thoughts, silent as it respects

thine own activity. how profitable and precious is a

meek and quiet spirit in the sight of God ! (1 Pet. iii. 4.)

God is a happy, contented, and delightful being : seek

therefore to acquire an ever joyful and peaceful spirit ;

avoid all anxious cares, vexation, murmuring, and melan

choly, which obscure the mind, and make thee unfit for

converse with God : turn thyself meekly away from it,

when thou art conscious of anything of the kind in thee.

Let thy heart be estranged from, and closed against all the

world and every creature, but entirely familiar with, and

open to God. Keep a very strict eye upon thyself, thine

evil lusts, self-love, and self-will : but towards God, be

truly free, childlike, affectionate, and confidential. Re

gard him as the friend of thy heart, and think nothing but

what is purely good of him. Though everything without,

fall into confusion, and though thy body be in pain and

suffering, and thy soul in barrenness and distress, yet let

thy spirit be unmoved by it all, placid and serene, elevated

above the accidents of all things, and delighted in and

with its God inwardly, and with his good pleasure out

wardly. If thou endeavour to exercise thyself in this manner, thy

mind will gradually become more conformed unto God,

and also more and more capable of substantially finding

this all-sufficient and most amiable Good, and of beholding his beautifying countenance.