Culture… What Do I Think About Culture?

SUN., JAN. 22, 1984, 6:10 AM
FARM, FRONT OF FIRE

Within your professional field (and this is still where I want you to be… and functioning visibly and relatively non-controversially) you must continually deal with the concept and the reality of culture. You have a sense that I am not opposed to these differences among humans, but now you shall hear, o son, how I answer the question I posed as a title.

Culture is never exact and can never be measured with any accuracy. It is the way any group of people (and who is in the group and who not?) tend to think, to act, and to value. And all of these thoughts, values, and actions tend to relate together, interacting and affecting one another. A culture “makes sense” if you know the background and experiences of any group. And I am a part of EVERY culture, even, in a minority, wherein I am the subject of disdain and rejection.

It is… yes, impossible to “form” a culture without including Me in some way. Now if I must be limited to an incarnation as Jesus (not represented best by, but limited to) then My last two statements don’t makes sense or are downright false. Continue to see Me as the pervading Spirit, in many forms, who serves as the unifying force for a culture.

In some cultures I am rather rational (yours is an example), and consequently theologians, professional and amateur, abound, as do seminaries, religious books, magazines, and journals. In other cultures I am less rational… in some I am just felt and perceived in personal, sensual ways. Cultures tend to limit Me, but individuals, often in tune with Me (in one of My many forms) go beyond cultural restrictions and give Me greater identity.

Your “case” is a good example. The culture of which you are a part acknowledges Me as a part of the Godhead (or ignores Me), but does not consider that I take any active, tangible role in human earth life. (Now these Latter Day Saints give Me a much more active existence, but many would still have difficulty accepting what We do together.) You do not want to leave your culture… and I even tell you that you should not… so you, as an individual, are going against the cultural way of thinking. Cultures, even rather permissive ones, like yours, (which has some advantages, as well as some drawbacks) like to protect themselves from individuals like you, and you do risk exclusion and rejection, as Nancy notes.

Yet despite this protective capacity, cultures are changed by individuals… who are not all recognized “giants”. You are doing a culturally dangerous thing, these Ruminations, and I have more than encouraged you in this “deviation”. You are sending out a published letter, openly authored by you but claiming to be based on thoughts and ideas of Mine. You send these to selected people, and you hope there will be no rancorous “flap” about this amalgam of Me and thee. Just know that the culture is ever ready to defend itself from this challenge to its view of Me. So you must be ready also.