Association is a term which denotes the spiritual relationship existing between God and man and is seen in the essential oneness or unity of Mind and idea. This is the truth concerning association, and any belief the human mind holds about it does not affect the facts in the least. Association, even in the limited and personal sense which mortal mind has of it, is a factor in human experience which concerns every one to no small extent. Workers associate with fellow workers in the daily strife for a livelihood; friends associate with each other in seeking amusement; legislators associate with other legislators in framing the laws of the land, and nations associate with other nations in commercial relationships and political alliances. Indeed, the League of Nations, already accepted by a number of nations and regardless of the form in which it will finally be accepted by all, is merely the expression of a desire to promote and maintain a better association between governments than has hitherto existed.
In a slightly different sense it may be said that the sick associate with a sense of sickness, that the sinning associate with a sense of sin, and even that the dying associate with death. Now regardless of which of the above cases be taken into account, it certainly is true that the association is a "mental connection" and it is thus that one dictionary defines the word. It is beyond question, then, that the only connection man has with business or amusement, friends or foes, health or sickness, life or death, is a "mental connection."
A man associates with whatever is present in his thoughts, and in this broader sense association is seen to be a term which covers even the entirety of one's existence; for the sum of one's thoughts is the whole of one's conscious being. Since, then, that which occupies thought is what one is associating with, it must be admitted that mortals have strange companionships at times. However, one understanding to a sufficient degree the truth of being, will not tolerate such strange companions as a cigar, or profanity, or a sense of resentment, or the belief that he cannot understand and apply Christian Science. He knows that these erroneous concepts are not included in the infinite range of truly reflected consciousness, and that he is ever mentally connected with freedom from physical habits, with pure language, with good will toward others, and with the understanding that he unceasingly expresses the God-given ability and inclination to comprehend and apply the truth.
