The kingdom life which Jesus offered is accessible to all, but it is not entered fully without a serious and active intention. It takes the kind of intention that would lead one to sell all they own to buy a field with a pearl in it. The disciplines are means by which an individual opens themselves to the transforming grace of God, and they cultivate holy habits of mind and body.[i]
As disciplines, they are indirect means toward a goal that cannot be directly apprehended. The goal is a whole self subject to God. Spiritual disciplines are simply those “special activities through which we present our bodies as a living sacrifice”[ii] so that we can live in “more effective cooperation with Christ and his Kingdom.”[iii]
A life full of spiritual disciplines is not necessarily a spiritual life, since disciplines