The spiritual practices are also physical practices. The great paradox is this; they are physical in nature but spiritual in their outcome. Solitude, silence, meditation, frugality, fasting, prayer, and lectio, etc. These all involve the body, they bring the body into submission, much the same way a horse trainer teaches the horse a new type of submission, and this leads eventually to a new unfounded and unimaginable freedom, the freedom from the habitual(bodily) practice of sin. We use the body as a tool, we bring it into submission through our will; this humility creates with it a whole new landscape of possibilities. These practises are not easy, yet they are very simple. The body will react and rebel in much the same way of that of an unbroken horse. The good news is this, we don’t need to be concerned about the messages our bodies are giving us. In due course the fruit will be plain to see. For us to understand and implement these practices will mean just that ‘practise’. Paul describes it thus; ”offering your bodies as a living sacrifice” The part that God’s spirit plays in our lives in relation to transformation is huge indeed. The part that we play is also of great importance, In bringing the body into submission we are at the same time doing our utmost to create a space and a place where God can have free reign.
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