Byzantine Blog

Suffering

The initial intention [to grant Kosovo Albanians' independence] of the International community hasn’t changed not only by the gruesome crimes, but even by the March 17 pogrom, when 12 Serbs were killed, 850 of them wounded and mutilated, 4,000 Serbs forced to leave, 930 houses burnt and destroyed, 35 churches razed to the ground, 7 Serbian villages entirely wiped off the earth… in two days alone.

For two days Kosovo and Metohija were in flames.

Targets included foreign police officers who were responsible for protecting Serbian enclaves. According to the official reports, 117 UNMIK policemen and 63 KFOR soldiers were wounded, 63 of their vehicles were burned. Some foreign soldiers were killed. All the words of conscience one could hear were quickly replaced by the proponents of independence for Kosovo.

Serbian Job

Today’s Kosovo epitomizes and mirrors the Old Testament story about Job. Kosovo is Serbian Job. Because, just like Job long time ago sat covered in sores and boils on a garbage lot outside the city walls, so is Kosovo today dumped to the garbage lot of the world, and everyone is eager to forget it as quickly as possible. They are trying to convince Job he brought his suffering upon himself.

But the Lord Who sees everything has rewarded Job afterwards, and has given him His blessing.

His Grace Artemije, Bishop of Raska-Prizren Diocese