My three "P's": Path, Practice and Promise

My life is now centered around what I call my three P's but it wasn't always so. It has taken decades of praying and seeking and thinking and reflecting to arrive here with three P's as opposed to one or two.

When I was much younger and only had one P- the Promise of being saved- it allowed me too much latitude. I was saved but I still engaged in behaviors that were far less than saintly!  My life had lots of drama. I had trouble controlling my temper. I slammed doors, ran away from home (I was a mother with small children the last time I left home) and I suffered from depression. The depression was so bad that at one time I checked myself into a hospital for three weeks.

It was after being released from the psychiatric ward with anti-depressants that I realized that I needed more than a Promise. I needed a second P, a practice. I had a friend, at the time named Mattie, who was dealing with an abusive husband. She didn't want to be abused anymore and I didn't want to take drugs for the rest of my life so we decided to fast together. At the end of the 21 days, she had the clarity and courage to leave her abusive situation and I had the faith to flush my meds. I have not suffered from clinical depression since. During that first extended fast, I prayed in the spirit and meditated on empowering Bible verses for long hours. I didn't realize at the time that this was a contemplative practice like meditation.

Which leads me to my last P which is my Path. I follow the Teachings of Jesus Christ. Christ's teachings have one objective--to become Christ-like. For me this means -to love everyone at all times no matter what- to see the God in all.   Now, at the time I decided to take on this objective as my spiritual goal, I was having trouble liking my own husband, despite the fact that I was saved and prayed A LOT!   I needed to have a Path, a simple set of instructions to guide me. I turned to the Bible and planned to begin my search in the book of Matthew. Twenty-five years later, I'm still there, in Matthew, with the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the Sermon on the Mount in the language that Jesus spoke. (Read more about that here.)

In my Path, loving myself is a spiritual activity, which means taking care of my body and mind are a part of the Path.  I eat healthy as a part of my Practice. Loving is easier when I'm at peace, which is the Promise. Do I stray off of my path? YES. Do I forget the Promise? SOMETIMES. Do I get out of my Practice? MUCH MORE OFTEN THAN I SHOULD. But, I always come back.

In the last blog I talked about Visioning, which is always the first step. However, the three P's represent the "works" that always accompany Faith.  Now that you have envisioned what your best YOU looks like, consider what kind of P's will be needed to make you the person of the Vision..and if you are willing to share, leave some comments below. Your P's or Q's or T's whatever- might just help someone else.