This is 'the gospel according to Kate', so bear with me. I've been hesitant to give commentary on anything religious because there is so much in life I haven't figured out just yet. But I wanted to share what has been on my mind.
I've been thinking about whatever it is that makes the difference between gritting your teeth and powering through, sticking with something or giving up. Drive. Ambition, desire, motivation. Whatever you call it, I've been thinking about that.
The best word I've found to get at the underlying idea is passion. This word lead me on the thought train to a scripture in the Book of Mormon. Alma 38:12 says, "See that ye bridle all your passions."
Bridle is most often used in association with horses. I've never heard in a context besides these two. Is the meaning the same? Do we bridle our passions like horses are bridled?
The definition of bridle on Dictionary.com says that it means 'to control'. I have always thought of this control as beating my passions into submission, as if they needed to be bullied and broken to be controlled. But that's not what is done with horses. Yes, to bridle them you must be firm, but it also requires patience perseverance. And then what happens? We ride them. We use that energy to get places we could never have gone on our own.
I think bridling your passions isn't squashing them, it's putting them to work for you. When you decide what you want you can channel your passion in that direction. It's like a damn. You are focusing that energy and directing it so that it's useful.
So that's the gospel according to Kate, or at least Alma 38:12 according to Kate. Amen, hallelujah!
No comments:
Post a Comment