It will have a regular retail price of $20.  My author's discount is 40%, so as promised, Meridian readers who have reserved copies will be billed for just $12 per book plus standard shipping and handling charges. If you still wish to reserve copies, you have only one more week to do so because we will need a final count.  If you have NOT reserved copies, and wish to, write to me at www.drbridell.com and indicate the number of books you want from the first edition.

The best thing about these first edition copies (I think) is that with my publisher we have figured out a way for these copies to have a personal and unique signature appear on the inside of each first-edition copy you receive.

It is truly amazing how this book has developed and come together with the help of Meridian readers.  Originally it was just a column, but it got so much feedback (and started producing so much weight-loss results) that the idea was born to print it as a book.  I decided to see how many people might want a copy by indicating that we would give away 250 copies from the first printing ? not knowing if I would really receive that many requests. 

We had more than that the first couple of days, so we announced that, while we could give away only 250, I would get my author's discount for as many Meridian readers as requested copies before the first edition came out.  WE HAVE NOW HAD REQUESTS TO RESERVE NEARLY 10,000 COPIES.  We (Meridian and I) have decided to devote the entire first edition to Meridian readers, and make other outlets wait for the second edition.

We have also decided to let Meridian readers who want to act as "personal bookstores" and continue to receive books in lots of 10 or more at a discount to sell or give to friends, relatives, neighbors or whomever they believe would benefit.  We have even begun to form the Bridell Posse (see www.drbridell.com ), an organization of Bridell dieters and advocates who will "round up" others who ought to be brought into the fold.  (There's a bit of a mixed metaphor there ? sorry). 

Anyway, it's all good, and I am both pleased and honored to be involved with so many of you who are living healthier (and lighter lives) physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Giving Credit to James

Although we have referred to the book of James many times in previous columns, we have never given this great Prophet and Apostle (and, as many believe, half-brother of Christ) the full credit for the beautiful Bridling metaphor. 

Although I try hard not to reveal too much personal information about myself, I will tell you that James is my favorite book of scripture.  Whether or not he was the Lord's half-brother as many experts suggest, he was a powerful and poetic writer who captured the essence of the Gospel in his five brief chapters.

In the first part of his third chapter, James speaks of "bridling the whole body," and says "We put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us/ and we turn about their whole body."  He is referring specifically to bridling our tongues, and the enormous potential for evil and destruction that that small member has. (This was elaborated beautifully in Elder Holland's last conference talk.)

But I love the broader picture that James paints through his bridle metaphor.  The bit, like the tongue, is in the mouth, and the mouth is both the place that we have to have control over ? both in terms of what comes out of it and in terms of what we put into it. 

The bit is the part of the bridle that allows us to turn the whole body of the horse.  The tongue is the part of the body that we have to control if we wish not to hurt others or ourselves with our words.  And the mouth, and what goes into it, is what we have to learn to bridle if we wish to turn our own whole bodies into the kind of bodies we want them to be.

Bridles, in actuality or in metaphor, are small things that control large things.  They are devices that allow us to have control over things that, unbridled, are stronger than we are.  Horses, in actuality or in metaphor as an appetite or passion, are large and very powerful things that must be bridled in order to be controlled.

Giving Credit to Alma

The other scriptural prophet who used the bridle symbolism so well was Alma.  I love the letters that he wrote to his three sons.  The sons were apparently very different from each other, because each of the three letters is completely unique, completely suited to each individual son and his particular needs. 

The letters reveal Alma as a great parent who understands who each of his sons are and who has thought a lot about exactly what advice each of them needs.  I have always been particularly drawn to his letter to Shiblon, in chapter 38.  Alma is so proud of this son's "steadiness and faithfulness" and grateful to him for the "great joy he has found in him already."

I think Alma sees in Shiblon a young man of great abilities and strength and passion, so the main thrust of advice is that he control and channel that power, never boasting, being careful of overbearance, and always remembering to give credit to God.  Then comes this beautiful, summarizing phrase: "See that ye bridle all your passions that ye may be filled with love."
 
I love this phrase ? first, because it distinguishes between passion and love, but even more because it teaches us that feelings and passions and appetites grow purer and more beautiful when we learn to control and direct them, and when we apply them correctly and point them in the directions the Lord wants.  We grow and expand our love not by letting our passions run away with us, but by mastering them.  We get the most joy out of a horse not by letting it run away with us, but by bridling it.

Regular readers know by now that I love horses.  I rode, just yesterday, up a lovely, early spring canyon, on a horse that took me much further and much faster than I could have gone on my own.  I saw more, felt more, and loved more than I could have without that horse, and it was the bridle that kept the joy from turning into danger.

The Bridell Diet is about Joy and Love

The Bridell Diet is all about bridling and being filled with love.  Appetite is not the enemy, but a powerful asset and ally to be used and appreciated and bridled.