The Promise of a Poisoned Chalice

The Promise of a Poisoned Chalice
Psalm 75

The news today tells of two men called Abu Elias and Robert who were interviewed as they sat at the bottom of the stairs of the Convent of Our Lady of Saydnaya, a city high in the mountains north of Damascus. It is one of the few communities that still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus; it is an ancient Christian center whose bishop seems to have attended the council that produced the Nicene Creed in the fourth century; and it has long been a focus for pilgrimage by both Christians and Muslims. Its location in the mountains has protected it from many of the tumults that have affected Middle Eastern life over the centuries. Abu Elias and Robert are there because they are Christian refugees from the conflict in Iraq. But now they are afraid that they may need to be on the run again if current unrest in Syria issues in power passing to a government that will not be interested in providing them with the protection that they have received from President Assad...