How have you learned about our faith and how have you tried to understand the impact our beliefs should have on our lives?
Well, honestly “learning” about the Faith has been a long process that has taken years and I don’t think that I’ll ever be finished. After Two Thousand years of history there are a lot of things to be learned, and a lot of ground to cover if you’re interested. The plus side is, Orthodoxy at its heart is very simple. So knowing about the Incarnation and the Holy Trinity and experiencing those realities in the Liturgy will keep you going from Sunday to Sunday while you’re still growing and developing in the Life of the Church.
I think instinctually I’ve always been pretty conservative in the sense that I never bought into anything whole heartedly until I spent time thinking and researching it. When I got to college I went through that phase where I was truly trying to define who I am. I didn’t find a lot of fulfillment in culture, so religion seemed the natural way to go.
It started off I started reading. First, the Catechisms I found around the house that had been collecting dust. Then, I found every resource I could find on the internet and in the university library. I started off with the general “What is Orthodoxy” books then moved onto more specific books about aspects of Church History or fine points of Theology. The problem is that there’s a difference between knowing facts and experiencing Christ in your heart in a real soul-shaking sense.
