The Three "Ps"
In his reflection today Father Richard names his "Three Ps", teaching that
they can potentially prevent us from getting into heaven. "Power, Prestige
and Possessions are obstables to God's coming. Why could we not see that?"
he asks.
Years ago, I read an article by Richard Foster that I have been referencing since where he too names Three Ps.
I entered "Personality, Place and Provision" into my journal at the
time and wrote that Foster said "The simple life consists of the proper
correlation of at least these three things."
Until today I never compared these two teachings. The connection is remarkable.
Provision .... all things necessary to carry on human life adequately. Possessions .... Mary refers to this as "the rich."
The Old Testament contains the promise of provision, "The Lord your God will
bless you in all you produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will
be all together joyful." Dueteronomy 16:15 So How did something so simple
become so complicated? We took the teaching on Provision and twisted it into
a thing of our own making. "Love Jesus and get rich." Provision is
good ..... but it is a limited good.
Place .... the mutually understood and accepted set of personal relationships that give
identity to one's life. Prestige .... Mary refers to this as "the mighty on thrones."
Everyone needs to have the same expectation level of an individual's place and place
should be viewed as a good thing. However, there is no abundant life until place
is properly understood in role and function. We each have a part ot play and
all are called to build the Kingdom alongside one another. There is no true and
honest place in God's kingdom for "the mighty on thrones". Jesus taught
us that in his refusal to be a king. We live inside of a great misunderstanding
of role and function.
Personality ,,,, refers to the inner person, expressed in certain determinate ways or habits.
Power .... Mary refers to these as "the proud."
We are each unique and we are gifted with certain ways of seeing and being in the
world. In Enneagram language we know that personality is both the best and the
worst of us. We have a habit of feeding our own personalities while denying the
personalities of others. So in pride we try to change those who are not like
us. A serious block to living simply and possibly the greatest obstacle to human
community.
The Question: How are power, prestige and possessions preventing you from entering
the kingdom?
As I write today it is clear to me that the space between the "Three Ps" as named respectively by Richard Rohr and Richard Foster
is the place of peace.
The proper understanding of provision has the potential to protect us from the misuse
and misalignment of possessions.
The wisdom of a healthy concept of place can prevent the destructive arrogance of
prestige.
And, the uniqueness of personality could be an inexhaustable source of creative energy
and hope if we could only see every person's way of being in the world as a unique
manifestation of God's creation.