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74 | Benedikt Bauer www.jrfm.eu 2018, 4/2, 67â79
therefore the community as well are fundamentally depicted as sinners â the
most common naming for the individualâs soul in the Kleines BrĂŒdergesangbuch.
The insight into the corruption of the immanent sphere by sin and the realiza-
tion that Godâs tender loving care in the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrec-
tion of his son Jesus Christ is the only solution to this desolate state of existence
relegate the individual to Jesus. This realization has a processual character that
once initiated irrevocably binds to Christ: âWho once recognizes the wound
in his side as the cause of his beatitude; who once lays eyes on the stigmata
[NĂ€gel=maal] at the hands and feet: he will have to say, my Lord, my God!â28
This first encounter with the divine leads ultimately to complete devotion to
Jesus Christ, even to the extent of self-abandonment: âBody and strength I will
retain, if it may serve Christ, body and life I will abandon for the true husband of
souls [Seelen=Mann].â29
The self-presentation of the singing individual can be described as seman-
tic self-humiliation: the individual is small, a worm, poor, (like) dust, âa bad
maggot, a rotten wood, worth nothing but to burnâ.30 But, in fact, this self-
humiliation does not seem to be a product of any outward pressure but rather
a desired status, an inner longing, that allows intimacy with Jesus Christ â the
self-humiliation of the individual takes places only in contrast to Christâs glory
and redemptive act and thus the individual can constitute himself or herself â
and therefore be assured of salvation:
You lacerated wounds! how sweet are thou to me, in thou I have found a little spot
[plÀtzgen, diminutive of place] for me: how gladly am I only dust, if nevertheless I am
the spoils of the lamb! ⊠My heart seethes out of love to you, my dearest lamb, and
all my urges are to live [for] the bridegroom, the one who conciliated me and was
given to the cross out of love.31
The wounds are the desired place to be, everything inside the singer prompts
the singer to be in intimate and âdaily interaction with the saviorâ.32 But the in-
dividual isnât depicted just by self-humiliation. Through the transformatio mysÂ
tica that cumulates in the motif of the wounds, the individual is released from
28 âWer einmal die Wunde in seiner Seit kennt, als die ursach der seligkeit; wer die NĂ€-gel=maale, an HĂ€nd
und FĂŒssen, einmal erblikt: der wird sagen mĂŒssen, Mein HErr, mein GOtt!â, Beyreuther 1978, 7â8.
29 âLeib und kraft will ich bewahren, wenn es Christo dienen kan, leib und leben lass ich fahren fĂŒr den
treuen Seelen=mannâ, Beyreuther 1978, Hirten-Lieder, 92.
30 â[E]ine schlechte madâ, ein faules holz, nichts werth, als zu verbrennenâ, Beyreuther 1978, Vom Wan-
del im Licht, 23.
31 âIhr aufgerissnen Wunden! wie lieblich seyd ihr mir, ich hab in euch gefunden ein plĂ€tzgen fĂŒr und fĂŒr:
wie gerne bin ich nur ein staub, wenn ich nichts desto wenger auch bin des Lammes raub! ⊠Mein
herze wallt vor liebe nach dir, mein liebstes Lamm, und alle meine triebe sind, um dem BrÀutigam zu
leben, Dem, der mich versöhnt und ward fĂŒr mich aus liebe ans creutz hinan gedehntâ, Beyreuther
1978, Hirten-Lieder, 89.
32 See Beyreuther 1978, Gebetlein, 12; Vom Wandel im Licht, 6.24; Hirten-Lieder, 32; Anhang, 8.10. For
Meyer this is the leitmotiv of mysticism; see Meyer 1983, 93.
JRFM
Journal Religion Film Media, Band 04/02
- Titel
- JRFM
- Untertitel
- Journal Religion Film Media
- Band
- 04/02
- Autoren
- Christian Wessely
- Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati
- Herausgeber
- Uni-Graz
- Verlag
- SchĂŒren Verlag GmbH
- Ort
- Graz
- Datum
- 2018
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY-NC 4.0
- Abmessungen
- 14.8 x 21.0 cm
- Seiten
- 135
- Kategorien
- Zeitschriften JRFM