Minister's Message

July 2003

FUN in the summertime! What does that look like, feel like, sound like to you?

For some of us that might mean since school is out for the summer, we are looking for ways to stay cool and hang out. The sights and sounds of boating, swimming, and fireworks fill our imaginations. For others who are attempting to balance vacations and work we may be having a different experience, altogether. Just doing one or the other would be a luxury, so we end up feeling harried and hurried, exhausted by it all! Whatever your experience of fun is – I offer a formula that has enriched my life.

As you might have guessed I’ve been a party-girl, I loved being out and about and having fun. Yet at various times, my fun was almost manic, very high highs and very low lows. When I gave myself permission to have fun, I would do and say things that were so out of character for me. And then I’ve have feelings of regret and self-loathing and I would spiral down into “toxic shame.” That cesspool of yuck which has built up in human consciousness to shame (motivate) us into being righteous and responsible humans. So I kept myself under control for the most part, being nice and not having much fun.

Then I discovered God. Not the God of my fathers, but a God of Love, Laughter and original Blessing. A God, who guides, guards and wants me to win! And when I live and move and have my being-ness in this God consciousness, I experience a quality of aliveness, joy and peace beyond measure. I am in bliss.

Faced with the question of how to have FUN with this new understanding of God, I was confused and unsure of myself, ‘cause I can tell you the old definitions of fun were more about numbing and dumb-ing than really being alive. So I have had to come up with a new definition of fun – A F.U.N. that contributes to my aliveness, joy and peace.

F.— Fundamental relationship with God – this relationship with God is fundamental to who and what I AM, as beloved of God, as an expression of the Divine manifesting at this time and place. As St. Augustine said “Joy is the evidence of the presence of God.”
U.—Undoubtedly honest. Honest with myself, honest with others, honest with the God of my understanding.
N.—deals in the NOW. By staying present to what’s happening within me in this present moment I stay connected to my aliveness.

Now I have F.U.N. in some pretty strange places, at the bedside of the sick and the dying, out in amusement parks, in boardrooms and beer halls, with friends, with adversaries and alone. FUN comes as I remember the nature of God within me the “I AM of God”. Fun (love, laughter, joy and peace) comes as I stay present and honest with my feelings, speak my truth and trust the process. This kind of fun can be experience regardless of the season, the situation, or the circumstances that you might find yourself in.

I invite you to have F.U.N. wherever you are, and whatever you are doing this summer, allow God to be God with you, for you and as you – right NOW.

Reverend Marylou Palmer
minister@unityofappleton.org