Definition of Intelligence (excerpt)

The Science of Psychology

In speaking of Psychology, let us bear in mind that there is only one Science of Psychology. In Miscellaneous Writings (p. 3:30), Mrs. Eddy writes, “Hence the deep demand for the Science of psychology to meet sin, and uncover it; thus to annihilate hallucination.” And in our textbook, Mrs. Eddy speaks of the science of psychology as the “Science of Spirit, God.”

Alibis and Excuses

What does the Science of Psychology or the Science of divine Intelligence uncover about alibis and excuses? These laws are uncovering to us that alibis and excuses are the natural tendencies in which our human mind indulges. Practically all of us use alibis and excuses, and sometimes quite unconsciously. We make them a smoke screen for our mistakes, and failures, and imperfections. Our pet alibis are, “It was the other fellow’s fault;” “It was an unavoidable circumstance;” or “We did not have a fair chance.”

The Harmful Effects of Alibis and Excuses

The harmful effect of alibis and excuses on the individual is far more serious than we realize. Many persons are in hospitals, even in insane hospitals, because they have hidden behind an alibi or an excuse until their socalled human intellect is enfeebled and impaired. They permitted their headaches, their indigestion, their nerves, their belief in persons and circumstances, to be an alibi or excuse for something that was hard to do, or that they did not want to do, until they literally lost their power to decide things intelligently. An alibi or excuse is a form of deceit that is used to hide the facts in the case, and the results are most disastrous to the one who indulges in them.

In a book review in the Magazine Section of the Monitor, there was a statement made by a noted surgeon. He said, in substance, that no organic cure could be permanent until a solution for the mental difficulties was found. He said that a lack of harmony in the realm of spirit often led to functional disorders and organic disease, and these could not be cured permanently until there was an adjustment of the underlying mental conflict.

Where Do We Contact Error?

Where is it that we, as individuals, contact and destroy error of every name and nature? Where do we contact the persons in the home, in business, and in the church, that seem to be thinking and acting erroneously? Where do we contact the unpleasant things to which we react so easily?

It is not outside or apart from ourselves that we contact them. We contact them within ourselves only, and at the point of our own belief in them. At no other point than our own belief in them do we have contact with the claim of evil persons and unpleasant things. All temptations to believe in personality and unpleasant things are at the point of our own belief in them, and here alone is where we overcome them.