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Handout #210 |
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Mystical nostalgia in a Lutheran |
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Johannes Scheffler (Angelus Silesius)
(1624-1677 A.D.), who came from Breslau, went to several European
universities before returning to his native Silesia. A Lutheran, he
expressed his mystical experience through little two-line poems in the
Cherublic Pilgrim, which he published after being converted to
Catholicism.
Though Christ were born a thousand times in Bethlehem and not in you, You would remain lost eternally. Alas, we humans are like little birds in the forest; we utter our cries together, each singing our note with you. There is no reason for a rose; it blossoms because it blossoms. It does not call attention to itself, does not ask whether anyone can see it. Unless paradise is first within you, believe me, you will never enter it. 0 noble spirit, tear off your bonds, and do not let yourself be chained in this way; You can find God more magnificently than all the saints. Blossom, frozen Christian, the month of May is at you door. You will be dead for eternity unless you blossom here and now. |
