Wesley Corpus

To Count Zinzendorf Source: The Letters of John Wesley (1736) Author: John Wesley --- Graviora tua negotia literis meis interpellare non auderem, nisi te crederem illius esse discipulum, qui linum ardens non extingui vult, neque calamum quassatum confringi. Id vero quum persuasum habeam, maximopere te obtestor, ut et tuis et Ecclesiae tecum peregrinantis precibus Deo cornmender, in vera spiritus pauperrate, mansuetudine, fide, ac amore Dei proximique erudiendus. Et si quando tibi paululum otii suppetat, breve illud votum Deo offerre ne dedigneris, quod a fratribus tuis (utinam et meis) Savannensibus saepius oblatum audivi: Einen Helden muth Der da Gut und Blut Gem um deinetwillen lasse Und des Fleisches Ltlste hasse, Gieb ibm, Hchstes Gut, Durch dein theares Blut. [The last verse of Freylinghausen's Wer ist wohl wie Du (No. 30 in the Herrnhut Gesang-Buch of 1737); the hymn which Wesley translated as 'O Jesu, Source of calm repose.' This is the verse which he rendered: A patient, a victorious mind, That life and all things casts behind, Springs forth obedient to Thy call, A heart that no desire can move, But still to adore, believe, and love, Give me, my Lord, my Life, my All!] SAVANNAE, Mart. 15, v.s. 1736. [Translation] SAVANNAH, March 15, 1736. JOHN WESLEY TO COUNT ZINZENDORF. I should not dare to interrupt your more weighty affairs with a letter of mine, did I not hold you to be a disciple of Him who would not have the smoking flax quenched nor the bruised reed broken. But since I am entirely convinced of this, I beg of you that in your prayers and the prayers of the Church that sojourns with you, I may be commended to God, to be instructed in true poverty of spirit, in gentleness, in faith, and love of God and my neighbor. And, whenever you have a little leisure, do not disdain to offer to God this short prayer, which I have heard frequently offered by your brethren at Savannah (would they were mine also!): Then the dauntless mind Which, to Jesus joined, Neither life nor treasure prizes, And all fleshly lusts despises, Grant him, Highest Good, Through Thy precious blood.