Glory, Grace, and Mercy, a free e-book in ibooks and pdf format by Lee van Laer

On the night of Thanksgiving 2015, our family got into a conversation about the nature of Grace and Mercy. Having written about these subjects recently, it occurred to me that it might be worth collecting the essays into a small booklet.

Chantal Heinegg, Christ Pantocrator, Egg tempera and 22k gold leaf on birch panel. Icon of Christ the Savor, based on a 12th century Byzantine prototype.
Chantal Heinegg, Christ Pantocrator, Egg tempera and 22k gold leaf on birch panel. Icon of Christ the Savor, based on a 12th century Byzantine prototype.

On the night of Thanksgiving 2015, our family got into a conversation about the nature of Grace and Mercy.

Having written about these subjects recently, it occurred to me that it might be worth collecting the essays into a small booklet.

The essays represent a collected train of mostly interrelated thoughts and impressions that developed during my last trip to China in October and early November of 2015.

These long business trips often offer periods of relative solitude during which contemplation seems appropriate; and more often than not, the contemplative enterprise produces an essay or two.

Most (but not all) of these essays have been published in similar form on my on-line diary (aka blog, although the term seems, to me, rather outdated and inadequate) posted at Zen, Yoga Gurdjieff—Perspectives on Inner Work.

Most of these essays are about Christianity and prayer, albeit seen from a distinctly esoteric point of view. Readers unfamiliar with the ideas of G. I. Gurdjieff may find some passages and concepts here obscure or difficult; yet the gist of the material, which is meant to refocus one powerfully on an inner understanding of the search for God through Christ, is—I believe— accessible enough for any ordinary Christian with a mystical bent to digest.

My own mystical path within Christianity began in June 2001 with an initiation in Rome that led to a series of religious ecstasies.

The effects of that encounter have been, for all intents and purposes, permanent; the material in this booklet is written in the light of understandings that continue to be revealed as a result.

—Lee van Laer
Sparkill, November 2015

For the ibooks format (apple book format for ipad, iphone, and mac) please visit the apple iBook store. Download there is free.

For the .pdf format (compatible with both PC and Mac readers)

Click Here

 
These are zipped files which will self-extract once downloaded and clicked. They are fairly large files so it may take a bit of time to download.

Lee van Laer was born in Yonkers, New York, in 1955, and spent a good deal of his childhood in Hamburg, Germany. He has spent the majority of his adult life in the Gurdjieff work, and is an active associate of the New York Gurdjieff Foundation. Lee is an import professional by trade, and has traveled extensively, particularly in China and other parts of the Far East. He holds a degree in fine art from St. Lawrence University, and is an artist, musician, photographer, poet, and writer… sometimes.

Lee is currently senior editor for Parabola.
His principal web site is at www.nefersweetie.com.
His blog is at www.zenyogagurdjieff.blogspot.com.

 

By Lee van Laer

Lee van Laer is a Senior Editor of Parabola. For more information, please visit www.doremishock.com.