To Conrad Cordatus - Martin Luther

TO CONRAD CORDATUS

Luther wishes Cordatus to visit the Eisleben living. May 29, 1531.

Grace and peace! I am delighted with your call to Eisleben, my native town, for then you will be an antagonist of Wicelius, towards whom you have a righteous hatred. But you should first go and inquire into everything, and if you are pleased, then you need not regret leaving that terrible hole. That God’s will be done is my sole desire. There you would perhaps breathe a purer atmosphere, which is cleansed by the furnaces burning night and day, and not, as in Zwickau, inhale such damp fumes. You know the proverb, “Imagination often makes things appear real.” I thank God you feel a little better. But lay aside these fancies, which have made you think you had many serious illnesses. I have often to

contend with these fancied ailments also, for our adversary the devil winds himself about us, not only to devour our souls, but to martyr our bodies with tormenting thoughts. Knowing well that the health of our soul depends very much on that of the body — “a merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones” — I can talk beautifully to you, but do not follow my own counsel. Farewell in the Lord. MARTIN LUTHER . (Schutze.)