The Ecumenical Christian Church U.K.

Spirituality Part 7 - Bishop Roger 

Following sex sleep is good, so how much sleep should we aim for. I’m talking about normal ‘physiological’ sleep, not the ‘sleep’ that we all appear to be in at times, which spiritual advisors like Gurdjieff and even Jesus say keeps us shut off from God. The need for sleep varies, like every thing else human, along a bell curve, but for most people about seven to eight hours is good.

Sleep deprivation, a well documented psychological torture, is not good. Occasionally to stop up all night to pray, or to attend vigil services may be helpful in stimulating spiritual activity, but those who habitually pray during the night, such as monastics, always make up their sleep deficit, and soon develop a rhythm, which becomes normal for them. For those who live in ‘the real world’ I do not recommend sleep deprivation as a spiritual exercise.

However there is a ‘sin’ of sloth which can turn one from the path, and the best way to avoid this is to rise when you wake up. None of that sinking again under the bedclothes ‘just for a little while’! Such time is wasted in daydreams which could be used in proper prayer or meditation. Probably all of us can say ‘mea culpa’ to this.

If you find that getting to sleep is difficult, perhaps because of a worry or some stress try a relaxation exercise;

Lie on your back or on your preferred side if that is more comfortable. Concentrate on your toes, feeling every sensation in them – little movements, tingles, even the pulse of blood flowing in them, and then say, mentally, ‘my toes are relaxed, warm and comfortable’  and feel that sensation.. Allow that relaxed feeling to spread through the feet into the legs, calf and shin, feeling all the muscles there relaxing, warming, becoming loose and floppy.

Then move up to the thighs in the same way and so on, slowly, taking care to relax each muscle group (as you imagine it – you do not need to be an anatomist!) up to the top of the head – you may be asleep before you get there, which is good, but if you’re still awake begin again at the toes, but this time repeat mentally ‘Lord have mercy’ or any similar short and non specific prayer-phrase. This is a good exercise to use at night anyway because it enables you to feel relaxation which we shall be using later in our spiritual journey.

Our final body necessity is entertainment. There is not too much to say about this. Obviously any entertainment undertaken by the spiritual seeker must be appropriate, i.e. nothing that stirs lust, or stimulates any of the ‘seven deadly sins’. A thing to be wary of in this field is getting too involved, so that in the enjoyment and fun of the thing we become so involved that we allow it to take over our lives. We have all met the person who can talk of nothing but his/her hobby to which all else is subsidiary. So enjoy your fun but always remember your prime purpose, which is to seek God.

We have spent considerable time in this course on ‘the body’. Too often the spiritual seekers in all religions forget that we are an entity – body, mind and soul, and each part of that indivisible unity affects the others. If you had no body how could you exist in this world? Or if you had no mind how could you control or experience your existence? And as for the spirit – the debate rages. Do we have one? If the body is damaged or dies does the spirit continue? And would that still be you, without the body? Christians have always understood that the trinity we have just considered is so essentially a unity that at the end of time bodies will be resurrected in the peak and perfection of condition ( It was thought at about age 30 years old) to join their soul (spirit) but they have to take that on the trust that is faith.