Collective Shadow: Hate Disguised as Love
Thursday, May 29, 2025
Feast of the Ascension
Just because ego and greed and hatred are doing cosplay as religion, I don’t want us to give it that much credit. I want us to insist that no, there is real religion!
—Omid Safi
In an episode of CAC’s podcast Everything Belongs, CAC staff member and poet Drew Jackson dialogues with guest Omid Safi, a poet and Islamic scholar. Jackson asks: How might poetry support our efforts for peace, particularly in the conflicted space between religious identities? Safi shares his perspective that it is not religions that are in conflict, but the shadow selves of hate and other harmful beliefs disguised as religion:
I fundamentally do not believe that there is religious conflict and tension in this world. There’s conflict in this world! There is genocide in this world—we’ve been watching it for a year and a half. There is racism, there is starvation, and the intentional starvation of people. There’s occupation. There’s lots of hideous things happening.
I think that’s ego, and that’s greed, and that’s selfishness that’s putting the small self individually, communally, nationally, and racially on the throne of wrong and to put, as Brother Martin [Luther King Jr.] used to say, the right forever on the scaffold. [1] Greed and ego and hatred love to do cosplay [2].… Their favorite costumes are the things that are of light, including religion.
I want us to really sit with that question: Is there actually religious conflict in this world with what we find our religious traditions teaching us? At the heart of the Jewish faith, that beautiful noble tradition: Be kind to the stranger for you yourselves were once strangers in Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:19). Our beloved Christ: Be kind to the poor, the orphan, the needy, the widow; that which you do to the least of these, you do unto me (Matthew 25:40). Our beloved Prophet Muhammad: That the cry of the orphan rises all the way up to the throne of God and shakes it to its mighty foundation. [3] These folks are drinking from the same fountain. They’re bathed in the same light.
I want us to be able to discern the meaning of that beautiful prayer of the Prophet Muhammad when he says, “My Lord, allow us to see things as they are in You. Allow us to see things as they are in truth.” Just because ego and greed and hatred are doing cosplay as religion, I don’t want us to give it that much credit. I want us to insist that no, there is real religion! There’s real faith, and it’s humble and it carries the scent of love and concern, not just for our own kind, but for all of us.
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Sarah Young Jesus Calling
Learn to relate to others through My Love rather than yours. Your human love is ever so limited, full of flaws and manipulation. My loving Presence, which always enfolds you, is available to bless others as well as you. Instead of trying harder to help people through your own paltry supplies, become aware of My unlimited supply, which is accessible to you continually. Let My Love envelop your outreach to other people.
Many of My precious children have fallen prey to burnout. A better description of their condition might be “drainout.” Countless interactions with needy people have drained them, without their conscious awareness. You are among these weary ones, who are like wounded soldiers needing R&R. Take time to rest in the Love-Light of My Presence. I will gradually restore to you the energy that you have lost over the years. Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and you will find rest for your souls.
RECOMMENDED BIBLE VERSES:
Exodus 33:14 NLT
14 The LORD replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.” (Related scriptures = Exodus 12:21, Joshua 22:4, Isiah 63:9)
Matthew 11:28 NLT
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. (Related scripture = Jeremiah 6:16)
Additional insight regarding Matthew 11:28-30: A yoke is a heavy wooden harness that fits over the shoulders of an ox or oxen. It is attached to a piece of equipment the oxen are to pull. A person may be carrying heavy burdens of (1) sin, (2) excessive demands of religious leaders, (3) oppression and persecution, or (4) weariness in the search for God.
Jesus frees people from all these burdens. The rest that Jesus promises is love, healing, and peace with God, not the end of all labor. A relationship with God changes meaningless, wearisome toil into spiritual productivity and purpose.
Today’s Prayer: Dear God, I thank You for Your boundless love that surpasses my human limitations. Guide me to relate to others through Your loving presence rather than relying on my own inadequate abilities. I recognize the need for rest and rejuvenation, for I’ve often felt drained by trying to help others in my own strength. Like a wounded soldier needing R&R, I come to You seeking restoration. As I rest in the light of Your love, I trust in Your promise to renew my energy and refresh my soul. Thank You for inviting the weary and burdened to find rest in Your arms. In your Son’s name, Amen.
