Jacob Boehme

A plainly dressed man entered a cobbler’s shop to buy shoes. The shop owner was away. His young apprentice, Jacob Boehme (1575-1624) was unaccustomed to such transactions, so he quoted a high price to get rid of the customer. The stranger bought the shoes and left. He stopped outside and said in a loud voice, “Jacob, come outside.” Jacob was surprised the man knew his name. The stranger said, “Jacob, you are now little; but you will become a great man, and the world will wonder about you. Be pious, live in the fear of God, and honor His Word. Especially do I admonish you to read the Bible; wherein you will find comfort and consolation, for you will have to suffer a great deal of trouble, poverty, and persecution. Nevertheless, do not fear but remain firm; for God loves you and is gracious to you.” Boehme later reflected on this moment in his private diary. A friend shared Boehme’s writing, Aurora, with a local pastor who concluded his mysticism was heretical and so much as said so in a sermon, with Boehme in attendance. The pastor then took the matter to the city council who asked Boehme to leave. They rescinded the order the next day but insisted he cease writing. He obliged for seven years but later resumed his written reflections. The matter was again brought to the city council who exiled him a second time. He went to Dresden and was cleared by several prominent theologians. Boehme was, by all accounts, a Christian mystic. I don’t know what to make of this vision at the cobbler shop, although the stranger’s counsel to fear God and honor His Word is consistent with other messengers God sent to people in Scripture. I also detect jealousy in the clergyman who took umbrage that God’s revelation might come to a “drunken cobbler.” We can learn plenty about people by the way they pray. Today’s prayer by Boehme is certainly a keeper: