No discipline is more misunderstood or abused than submission. If we remember that the Disciplines are designed to effectuate our spiritual freedom, we will not risk misunderstanding submission. Through the discipline of submission we lay down the burden of always trying to have our own way. We learn to “not sweat the small stuff”; we learn to rein in our Egos; we learn that our lives are not about us, but about something much larger than us (Richard Rohr). We learn that our happiness is not dependent upon getting what we want. This form of self-denial provides access to a certain spiritual freedom – the freedom of being able to give ourselves away to others. “Servant leadership “ is a term which describes this discipline; we are engaged in this discipline when we are able to subordinate our needs to the needs of others, our rights to the rights of others, our satisfaction to the satisfaction of others. (NOTE: this practice has NOTHING to do with the misguided notion that women should “submit” to their spouses. This is a misreading of a pseudo-Pauline text and has no place in our Christian understanding.)