The Use Of Intellect

Intellect is a gift of God that is rarely, if ever, used to serve God.  When it is not used to serve God, it is a destructive instrument that serves Satan.

The best use of one's intellect is to use it to perform acts of love for another.  Sadly, that is hardly the case for that requires a degree of selflessness and deep consideration for others which in this day and age has been replaced by the self-serving ego. [1]  On this topic, like some others I have posted in the blog, there is not enough internet space to itemize all the abuses of the human intellect, but two of them stand out and I believe they are also Satan's favorites:  Rationalization and Intellectual Dishonesty.

The human mind is so dominated by Satan that it assumes that Rationalization [2] and Intellectual Dishonesty [3] are part of the norm, i.e. expected norm, i.e., nature, i.e. Mother Nature, i.e. God's plan.  That itself is rationalization and intellectual dishonesty and that cannot be farther from the Truth and closer to Satan's desire.  To what extent is one's intellect warped to satisfy Satan's desire?

The only way to find out is to see one's intellect for what it is and that means stepping away from one's ego and view the intellect in all of its nakedness.  That requires one's iron will (Free Will, of course) as well as God's grace because it can be ugly.  Very ugly.  Whoever want to see the ugly image of Satan living like a cancerous creature in our souls?  I certainly do not but I know it is ugly if I see it.  Truthfully, I have not seen mine yet but I know it is ugly.  I am working up the courage to see it.  I know I will be able to one day but it will not be easy and will take may tries.

Even if I get to see it, the problem is getting rid of it, making the soul beautiful again, young again, pure again, innocent again, just as God had intended.  Can it be done?  Not without a war.  For the sinful, that is practically most of everyone, it will be a never-ending war.  Satan is powerful.  We cannot prevail against Satan without prayer, without God's help, without fighting it until we draw our final breath.  How hard we have tried is how much Mary is able to pray for us, plus a bit of Her very kind and very loving nature, for the forgiveness of our sins.

Please pray for us, Mother Mary.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.


[1] Even some of those who stand in the pulpit to preach have egos too, perhaps even over-inflated ones.  Some of their sermons are non sequitur and some overly esoteric.  Some think that if they ramble about Christ's suffering and resurrection, they have "arrived".  No they have not.  To have "arrived" and therefore able to speak for Christ means speaking with conduct and action and/or speaking with inspiration and emotion that bring tears to the eyes, all the while keeping the ego in check and using the intellect to engage in selfless love.  To be sure, I think some preachers are in the wrong profession and they would serve God better if they would do something else instead.  But then who am I to criticize them when I cannot commit to what they have committed their lives to do and do what they do daily?  Is it better to do something for God poorly, non-believingly and/or half-heartedly than not to do anything at all?  I do not have a satisfactory answer, but I think Francis of Assisi had preached obedience to and respect for those who serve God for they are the ones who uphold the Church.  Holy Francis is right.  As much as I am reluctant to agree with him,  I defer to his Holy Wisdom.

[2] I define Rationalization to mean the denial of God's Truth.

[3] I define Intellectual Dishonesty to mean any and all of the following: exaggeration of God's Truth, omission of God's Truth, partial statement of God's Truth, selective use of God's Truth as a means to an unholy end, partial omission of God's Truth, re-statement of God's Truth artfully to disguise it, fabrication of  a fact or a series of facts to create a false truth, and all other unapologetic and intentional misrepresentations and/or omissions of God's Truth.