Recently, while being interviewed about my podcast Spei Lumina — Light’s of Hope, a podcast dedicated “to exploring imaginal prayer” — I was asked what does imaginal prayer mean? what are its sources? why is it important?

I have had a blessed spiritual journey this far in my life. My journey has introduced me to rich and diverse ways of praying, of worshipping and many faith enriching devotions. From centering prayer, Lectio Divina, praying the Divine Office of the church, praying the rosary, praying the Divine Mercy chaplet, Mass, charismatic worship, to contemplation — my faith life and spirituality have vitally nourished and restored my soul.

We live in times where it seems we are influenced to react to the words, actions, beliefs of those who do not share our same views. Where the tragedies and disasters that befall our brothers and sisters in the world around us are used as fodder to inflame the differences between us. We are manipulated to believe that our differences with those not “like us”, those who “don’t believe as we do”, those who aren’t the same political party as us, those who aren’t the same color or gender or faith as us are so great that we must dig our heals in and rail against them. They are different, so we can’t accept them into our lives. We are led to believe, they are different because they don’t love and have compassion on the refugee, the naked, the poor, the needy, the Earth, the neglected as we do, so we must not work with them. It’s as if, we don’t have to have compassion, love, and concern for those who only care for themselves and people like them.

One of the first things we read about in the Book of Genesis, the foundation of salvation history for people who come from a Judaeo Christian religious background, is that when God was nearing the completion of creation, God said: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all creatures that crawl on the ground.’ God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.” Gen 1:26-27.

The world, media, manipulates us into reaction and further isolation from our brothers and sisters who do not agree with our politics, our sense of justice, our faith. Propaganda and false “facts” are used to sway us to be one way or another.

We are all made in the imago Dei — the image of God — and are all called to live into that facet of our being. Discovering, coming into contact with, becoming aware of our unique imago Dei does not occur in the realm of reason alone, in the realm of the world alone, in the realm of what we can physically see, physically hear, rationally learn, it can only occur in that sacred realm within each of us — the imaginal realm — where we encounter the Divine and commune with the Divine and come to know the Divine and how the Divine calls us to be, to reflect, the imago Dei in the world.

Imaginal prayer seeks to help us create that space within, that dwelling, the Shekhinah — the indwelling presence of God — to commune within us and illuminate our imagination. nurturing our unique response to brilliantly reflect the imago Dei in the world and along our spiritual journey.

The world wants to distract us from being created in the imago Dei, wants to persuade our minds to forget that all humanity — those we love, those we despise, those we agree with, those we disagree with, those like us, thus so unlike us — is created in the imago Dei.

Now more than ever, the imago Dei needs to be reflected within the cosmos. Imaginal prayer seeks to aid anyone — from novice pilgrim embarking on their spiritual journey to live more into their imago Dei, to seasoned believer, servant, pilgrim, activist who has dedicated years and decades to faithfully unfolding their imago Dei upon and within the cosmos healing the hurts of those who’ve abandoned their imago Dei — seeking to ascend above the fray of reaction and negativity to the darkness of this world and shine the Light, and be a way shower to extinguish the darkness of our times.

I hope that you will join me and others in exploring imaginal prayer by checking out our podcast Spei Lumina — Light’s of Hope.