Show Notes/Transcript: In today's imaginal prayer exercises, we will take the theme from a  recent news cycle and explore praying for God's divine light and grace to heal and transform the situation, all involved, and all of us impacted by the reactionary way the secular story was broadcast. Let us begin first with a prayer to Archangel Uriel.  Why Uriel you may ask?  Archangel Uriel is known as the angel of wisdom and it has been a long tradition in the church to turn to Uriel for help in resolving conflicts and enlightening the way we should act.  His name means "God is my Light" or "fire of God." Let us begin. O Holy Archangel St. Uriel, we pray that you will guide our thoughts and actions with the Divine Light of God. We ask that you guard and protect us against all the attacks of Satan who has tempted man since the Garden of Eden. May you shine God's light upon us during our imaginal prayer exercise so that we may share our spark of the Divine light upon the world.  Help us to live a life rooted in love and joy.  May my responses in life be based on love, not fear, and may my every action in life be driven by the desire to contribute to the never ending demonstration of God's love for all life.  Amen.   As the chapel bell tolls three times… listen to it's resonance fade with each ring… and as it fades… imaging the negative energy around you sinking to the ground and being bathed in the divine light of God as reflected from Uriel's sword: {chapel bell ring three times} Now start focusing on your breathing, not changing it, but breathing in through your nose and out through your nose.   Noticing with each breath the force of life within us.  We came into the world inhaling the force of life.  We will leave this world someday exhaling this forth. Imagine a scene where you are the proprietor of a bakery known for your scrumptious treats and heavenly wedding cakes.  You've been inspired by the grace and kindness that has unfolded in your life to help celebrate that Divine gift and grace to those who come to your bakery to help celebrate life's special occasions with those they love in their life — family, friends, coworkers, church members. Imagine it's a beautiful Saturday morning in the spring and one by one a three couples enter your shop to inquire about having  you bake the cake for their special occasion. You visit and find out more about each couple's special occasion.  As you visit with them and you get to know the occasion they are celebrating imagine your feelings as you discover each couple's occasion that brought them to you.  One couple is a gay or lesbian couple.  The other couple is young couple celebrating their enagement.  The third couple  is celebrating the primary election win of one spouse whose politics and agenda runs contrary to your personal political beliefs.   Each couple is sincerely happy for each other and love each other deeply and they want to make this a celebration to cherish and remember and they've come to your shop to get the celebratory cake they will be serving. Imagine the scene. Do you see a spark of the Divine love in the love you see expressed between each? Which couple are you most happy to serve?  Is there a couple you are less happy to serve?  Is there a couple you can't see a spark of the Divine love between?   If so, why?     If so, what will you do with this awareness?  Will you refuse to help celebrate their occasion?  Will you take this awareness to prayer and meditation and ask God to help you be just as joyful to celebrate their occasion as you are for the others?   If your first reaction is to refuse service to the couple you feel the least compassion to celebrate their occasion, where does this feeling end?  Where would this feeling of refusing to celebrate the joys and happiness and life of those you so disagree with end?  Would you refuse the next couple that came in with similar backgrounds and occasions?  And the next?   Think of all the special occasions that you have been a special part of in the history of your bakery.  Think of all the love and joy that was shared for the couples and families you helped celebrate their special occasions.  Your cake helped be a part of that joy.  That joy helped further spark the reflection and presence of the Divine joy and love and grace in the world.   Why dampen the spark of Divine love and joy by refusing to be a part of such a celebration?  Why dampen the spark of Divine love and joy having a transformative affect on the celebrants simply because you disagree with their politics, their love, their positions?     Can you picture each celebration — the gay or lesbian couples wedding?  the young couple celebrating their engagement?  the young couple celebrating the primary election win of their spouse?   Can you feel the joy?  Can you feel the love?  Can you sense the joy and love of the celebrants gathered together transforming all present?  Can you picture the joy and love celebrated at that occasion seeping out beyond the walls of that celebration and within the lives of all as they leave the celebration?   Think back to the news cycles where we've heard about politicians refused a photo op by a proprietor simply because the proprietor didn't share the same political views and didn't want to be in a photo op.  The news cycles where we've been told about the couples refused a wedding cake by a baker due to their deeply held religious views.  Think about those individuals refused service at restaurants, hotels, and other businesses because of the color of their skin, their perceived sexuality, their perceived religious beliefs.     Can you picture those times?  How do these situations make you feel?  Reactionary and emotional?  Angry?  Despair?  Shame?  Sorrow?  Hurt?   Picture in your mind, all those hurt by being refused service for one reason or another.     Imagine Archangel Uriel casting his sword of fire on the scene and showering each of those scenes and each of those hurt individuals with the Divine Light of God's grace, God's love, and God's joy.   Imagine for a moment, focusing on your breathing in and breathing out, breathing in God's light and love and grace, breathing out human prejudice and hurt and pain, breathing in God's light and life on the scene and individuals involved.  Breathing out and casting away hatred, prejudice, fear, false faith, pride.   Breathing in Divine light and love and joy.  Breathing out division, disdain, heartlessness.   Heavenly Creator, inflame in our hearts the courage to stand for your grace, your Divine light,  your Divine life, your Divine love.  Protect us from the harms of evil and darkness and strengthen as in our journey as we seek to spark and reflect your Divine light, love, and joy on the world.   Amen

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