DR BRIDELL’S
logical
and rational & poetic and beautiful & completely guaranteed
DIET
#36. WOW, Then Thanks, and Then The Bridle Metaphor on a Spiritual
Level
By the Mysterious Dr Bridell
Editor’s note: Wow!
Dr. Bridell asked for responses, and you Meridian readers really gave
it to him/her. We expected hundreds of requests for the "certain
number" of books we said we were setting aside, and instead we
are getting thousands. We were at 2100 and counting on Tuesday.
As Dr. Bridell said, we will accept all requests until October 15,
so if you have not sent your name and e mail address, you have until
midnight on Sunday to get it in to DrBridell@meridianmagazine.com.
As we said
last week, if the number of requests is larger than the number of
free books set aside (250) we will have a drawing. Well, the bad news
is that the number of requests will end up being more than ten times
as high as the free books available. But here is the good news.
Dr Bridell wants everyone who submits their name to have the book,
so he/she has instructed that those who have their requests in by
the 15th and do not win the
drawing will be able to get the book at the author’s discount of 40%,
and Dr Bridell will do this for everyone who sends their request,
no matter how many there are. He/she gives details below. Because
of your enthusiastic response, the good Doctor has added to the conclusions
of the column, and there will be two more Friday editions (after this
one) to finish the series.
First of All
All I can say is THANKS for your tremendous response. Thousands
of you have requested a copy of the first edition, and, as mentioned
above, we will get a copy to everyone who has submitted a request
by the 15th — either in the form of a free book for those
who win the drawing, or in the form of a book at my author's discount
of 40%.
Publishing takes time, and the book will not be available until next year, but we will hold the drawing before the end of the month, and all of you who have submitted will receive an e mail informing you whether you are a drawing winner or one who can get the book at the 40% discount. Everyone who submits will receive one or the other. If you still need to put your name on the list, click here DrBridell@meridianmagazine.com and send your request by midnight on the 15th.
Whether you
are a drawing winner or an author's discount receiver, the only effort
required on your part is that we may ask you to send a stamped, self
addressed envelope so that there will be no mistakes or glitches in
getting the books right out to you promptly once they are printed.
Now, as we alluded to earlier, everything about this book will be
unique. It will include all that has been in the columns and
a substantial amount more, and some of that "more" will
be from you. As your e mails have poured in this last
week, they have included not only an abundance of testimonials (of
how much weight you have lost and how much better you feel — and also
of the spiritual benefits and the effect the "diet" has
had on your other appetites) but a lot of great ideas on how
you have personally implemented various principles of the diet.
These, along with some additional ideas and findings of my own will
go into the book.
And another interesting thing: Because the book will be for everyone (since its principles are universal), we will also be printing a special "LDS supplement" that will connect the whole approach directly to the Word of Wisdom and give additional insights to LDS readers that might not be understood by the general public.
Don't misunderstand.
The book itself will be highly spiritual in nature and will include
everything that has appeared here on Meridian, but there will be additional
insights and doctrinally related material, especially on the spiritual
part of the diet, which will be in the LDS supplement.
Everyone who has submitted their name (whether they win the drawing
or order at the 40% authors discount) will get both the book and the
supplement.
Another way the book will be unique will be in its distribution.
It will be available in bookstores, but that will not be the only
way to get it. There may be ways for those who wish to do some
of the distribution themselves. I would like this book to circulate
in personal ways — with someone who has it and lives it introducing
it to his or her friends and family. I will mention more on
this in the final column in two weeks.
But enough
of these logistics! Let’s get back to the diet and to how the bridle
metaphor applies (or doesn't apply) to the spiritual diet.
Now, on to Today’s Column
Back in column 23, when we were on the mental diet, I revealed how
(and why) I became "Dr. Bridell":
Pseudonyms are great, especially when they contain symbols. I became Dr. Bridell simply because the objective of this column is to find the secrets of bridling our appetites and passions. The bridle metaphor, particularly for those of us who love horses, is perfect.We put bits in the horses mouths,” said James, an apostle of the New Testament, “that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body.” To become “perfect men,” he said, we must be “able also to bridle” our bodies, our expressions, our appetites. And Alma made the beautiful and provocative statement, “See that ye bridle your passions that ye may be filled with love.”
And further back, in column 11 while we were on the physical diet, we also said:
One reason the horse is such a perfect metaphor is that horses are extraordinary, remarkable and beautiful creatures than can serve us in ways that are exciting and thrilling as well as useful. There is nothing quite like a horse at full gallop, especially if you are on its back, moving with it and feeling its grace and power.
One of the great gifts of mortality is our passions and our appetites. These are not things we should want to kill or to medicate out of our lives. They are not our enemies but our energies. They can be our motivators rather than our masters, and a thrill to ride rather than a threat to ruin.But only with the bridle! Until we put the bit of our own control between the teeth of our urges and instincts, these appetites can injure us, wound our destiny, and throw us off the path of our dreams and our goals.
The last thing we should want to do with our appetite for food, or for sex, or for any of God's gifts is too dull it, to subdue it, to tie it up or hobble it so it loses its beauty and strength and passion, or to kill it. (This is why things like vows of celibacy are such tragedies.) Rather, we should bridle it, harness it, control it to work with us and for us instead of on us and against us.
Your brain is the bridle, and your mental commitment to eat half as much and twice as slow is the bit that can gradually come to feel natural and accepted in the mouth!"
The Mental diet took the metaphor even further:
Your brain is the bridle." Let's explore that idea further — the brain controlling the body like a bridle controls a horse. Work the metaphor a little deeper: Just having a bridle (or a brain) is not enough. We must learn how to use it to control the horse (appetite). We must practice and learn the skills of riding and develop the strength of will that puts us in charge. Then and only then does the horse or the appetite serve us and give us joy. Each column in the physical diet was on an idea or technique or practice that can give us a better bridle and more skill in using it to control the food appetite. And each of those methods, from sipping and savoring to fasting to poetic awareness can help us learn to bridle all of our other physical and mental appetites as well.
With discipline and the will that is gained through practice and effort, we lift ourselves higher toward Peace and Joy; without it, we plummet toward Obsessions that lead to Addictions and other kinds of Death.
So what is at stake? Everything. Animals fulfill the measure of their creation by following their instincts, urges, and appetites. Humans fulfill the measure of their creation by controlling theirs.And the difference is the bridle!
Like the little transformer toys that kids play with, which — with a few twists and rotations — go from a man to a spaceship or a race car, we can transform our passions from dangerous (to ourselves and to others) masters to obedient and highly beneficial (and joy-giving) servants.
You already have the bridle. God has given it to each of us just as He has given us the horse. It is up to us to use it. It is up to us to learn to ride!