The 4th P

I chuckled today when a patient reminded me of the 4 Pees that lead to success in healing that I had told him about months ago.

“Oh really!” I said. “What are the 4 Pees?” I asked.

I knew about the 3 Pees…patience, persistence, and perseverance. I refer to those frequently. But I wasn’t sure what the 4th P was.

He said, “Patience, persistence, perseverance and payoff.”

“Oh wow,” I exclaimed. “I like those!”

His own inspiration on the 3 Pees led him to conclude that there must be a payoff somewhere if we are faithful. And he was right.

When we are patient and persistent and we persevere until we’ve finished our course, we’re going to receive a reward. This is true for spiritual healing as with any other endeavor in life.

So from now on, I’ll refer to the 4 Pees…patience, persistence, perseverance and payoff when reminding others of the path we often must take to realize results.

Sounds like a good deal to me!

Cheers

Don't stop now

If you're going through hell, keep going.

~ Sir Winston Churchill

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Psalms 23

We may walk through the valley, but we don't get stuck there. We keep on walking until we exit on the other end.

And there is an end!

Don't give up

My son Tyler and I had a spiritually rich experience chopping wood together a month ago.

Wielding an axe is not one of my stronger talents, but Tyler was itching to swing the red-handled wedge, wanted someone to keep him company while he experimented for the first time, and we needed more firewood for the winter anyway. So out to the woodpile with two new axes in hand we walked.

Up until this point, I had minimal experience chopping wood, let alone swinging an axe properly.

With dozens of chunks of wood heaped to our side, I’d put one log on the chopping block at a time and made a swing. If the log split easily, I’d continue whacking. If the log didn’t budge, I’d cast it aside into my “stubborn log” pile and grab another one. Soon, the pile of stubborn unchopped logs was larger than the split wood. This was not a good sign!

I stopped and prayed about my lack of success with so many unbudging logs. Was this a model of action I wanted to perpetuate, and teach my son? I asked.

I thought about how many times in life people get tempted to give up on a worthy task. Rather than trying harder and looking for ways to be successful, they might give up and move onto another “log.”

For example, if a relationship is not working out, why not give up and go find another person? the tempter often suggests. Or if a health problem is not yielding readily to prayer, why not give up and seek a quick-fix material remedy? the tempter argues. Or if the debt keeps mounting, why not give up and admit it can’t be brought under control? again the tricky misleader wants us to conclude.

Did I believe in giving up so easily? Absolutely not! Giving up has never been my motto.

Jesus taught his followers to take up the cross before they could wear the crown.

Chopping wood is hardly a metaphor for taking up the cross, but actually, it was for me at the time. As I considered the bad example I was setting by letting my stubborn log pile grow, I had to sacrifice my self-righteous lazy attitude that I couldn’t chop those logs successfully and admit the job could be done.

I re-doubled my efforts. “With God all things are possible,” I uttered as I grabbed a stubborn log and re-poised it on the chopping block.

Before mindlessly whacking, I listened for a few moments on how to proceed. A voice within started giving me tips on how to approach unyielding logs.

I looked for cracks in the wood. Rather than hitting the log directly in the middle,--often the hardest place of all to start,--I aimed my iron for the edges on the weakest sides.

Wood started splitting in all directions. Success was mine! To my amazement, I chopped every single log in that stubborn pile and finished with one of the grandest feelings of personal triumph I’ve felt in a long time.

My son and I finished a cord of wood that day, and had to have our picture taken because it was a first for us!

Tyler is all ready to start chopping a second cord…and I’m actually looking forward to it. This is amazing!

Don’t give up. It’s not necessary.

Back off a bit from the trouble. Listen. Pray. Every stubborn issue has a vulnerable spot, a place to begin aiming the truth that cracks the problem wide open and disarms it to the delight of all.

Don't give up

I’m vacationing with my family at our cabin in the Blue Mountains in Oregon State for a few days. My son and I have been splitting wood for burning in the woodstove this winter.

Operating an axe is not one of my better talents, but I’ve learned a spiritual lesson wrangling with logs that don’t split easily.

Don’t give up!

If you’ve never chopped wood and you revel in the thrill of decisive accomplishment, get yourself an axe and some firewood to split. It’s quite a high to deftly swing the sharpened steel into the end of a chunk of tree trunk penetrating the airspace with a loud “crack” and successfully slicing to the bottom of the timber watching wood topple in either direction.

Cracking the wood in one or two blows is ideal. But all chunks of wood are not so easy to split. At times, I could swing and swing and swing and the wood still wouldn’t split. So I learned to use the wedge—a triangular iron with a sharp edge designed to be inserted into a crack made in the log by the axe. Once inserted, I would hammer on the wedge to force it into the log and push the wood apart until the piece capitulated and split in two. The process seemed slow, but victory was always assured. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” the old Proverb reminds us.

I thought about the parallels of using a wedge in splitting wood to relying upon prayer for spiritual healing. Sometimes problems don’t yield as quickly as we’d like. It seems that we pray and pray but still no progress. But like the strategically placed wedge, we have spiritual tools we can use to split the case wide open and prevail with success.

Persistence, perseverance, wisdom, and insightfulness are the “wedges” of faith that complete the work. They don't give in to tough appearances, lack of response or intimidation. They prevail with the omnipotence of Mind that always triumphs.

It took several whacks on the wedge to split some pieces of wood, but they always gave way. The wedge prevailed. Truth prevails too.

Don’t give up when you pray. Every affirmation of Truth and every new understanding of Spirit you gain drives you closer to your final destination. Truth wedges error out of your experience, completes the task at hand, and brings the needed healing.