Not exactly a newbie...

yes, a bit \\"difficult to explain to those unfamilar with the Church\\"... I am also a recent convert to Orthodoxy. Thanks be to God. Welcome to O/C

The explanations are interesting. \\"Which church?\\" \\"The Orthodox Church.\\" \\"Oh, you mean the Russians?\\" \\"Not really.\\" It goes on from there... \\"You\'re Sorta Catholic?\\" \\"Well, not exactly.\\" I\'m sure we\'ve all been there... How long ago did you convert?

I\'m surprised people have heard of the Russian Orthodox church in Albequerqe, particularly if there\'s not a ROCOR church around there. They\'re fairly common up here in AK, and most people have no idea they\'re not museums. I myself am a recent convert to Orthodoxy, being not-quite-4-years old as an OC. I suppose I should try to condense the story of my strange journey to Orthodoxy on to my profile, but I\'m not so sure it\'ll fit or that there\'s any way to put the \\"Reader\'s Digest\\" on it. One thing that I\'m sure we can all agree on is that He works in mysterious ways, and no one on earth has such a good sense of humour. Maybe I\'ll try to see if I can fit it into a paragraph, copy and paste it later... here goes: In 2003, a long-held job driving taxi at night in Homer came to a grinding halt for mostly bogus reasons just slightly AFTER I met an enchanting young woman I didn\'t realize would be my first (and last) wife. Within less than 48 hours, I ended up partying with the Bay Rockers so hard I ended up living in the Village (Nanwalek) the next morning. (Well, morning after next, we got stuck in Seldovia for a day). Moving on, a simple misunderstanding led to talk of a wedding and next thing I knew I was enrolled in Catechism classes. At that time in my life, I had no clue or motivation, and yet I continued. I am now more than slightly ashamed at what a sinful person I was at that time, especially in light of how many people (including myself) thought that I wasn\'t such a bad guy. In all honesty, I never really took the church all that seriously until a couple years ago, the first time my wife and I split up. Nearly divorced, papers filed and everything. We have two children, both daughters, they are young and painfully adorable. Lord willing, I will be holding them all in my arms slightly before Pascha this year. I am increasingly thankful to God for not letting me mess things up irrevocably, in fact at times I feel almost guilty for how blessed I have been. I am also thankful that prayer doesn\'t even have to be believed at first to start making changes in your heart to bring you closer to Him. I suppose I\'ve gotten majorly off-track here, but there are times I am liable to preach on. Testify, as it were. I reckon I\'ll stop here for now... Have a great day and God bless.

Now that is a story... And I do agree about God\'s sense of humor. I think we can try to avoid saying that; it seems somehow blasphemous. But I have not doubt of it in my own life...

I give, you have a point there re: blasphemy. Until fairly recently in life, I believed Nietzsche was right about all humor being based on cruelty. However, although it\'s still true to a certain extent, I\'ve found a new class of jokes: Things that are funny because they\'re true. Examples include: \\"The truest measure of an object\'s worth is what you can get for it at a yard sale\\" \\"Q: If God is all knowing and all powerful, why doesn\'t he speak to us in English (or whatever language you happen to speak )? A: Because he wants us to learn SIGN language.\\" I made up that second one (as far as I know), hope it\'s not blasphemous. I\'ll have to ask my priest, he laughed when I told it to him. Many things are different in Alaska, kind of goes without saying. By the way, what are the regs on fish during lent down south?

John Michael, to answer your previous question. I have been Orthodox since Nov 2007. My O/C page explains a little more. I just updated it a few days ago. When I first visited the Church (prior to conversion) I too thought it was Catholic. :-) I was in the service checking the watch, wondering how much longer it was going to be until the end of the service. The next time I visited, something deep within me was communing with the God of the Universe and tears just poured down my face. My friend was getting baptized, the service was absolutely beautiful. When i peered into the baptismal water with the previously poured oil from the Priest into the shape of a cross, I knew I was being invited to my true Home. I visited enquires classes for almost a year afterward and became a catechumen. There was no need for me to search further (as did in the protestant faith). I had found Home.... Big story made short for the forum entry... :-) in Christ, Jenn Elizabeth

Boy isn\'t the truth. I have a friend who\'s 15 year old son attended an evangelical church youth group a couple weeks ago and he was attacked (verbally)the youth pastor. I guess he went on about an hour about Orthodoxy being heritical, gold domes, pomp, nonnecessary rituals. I hear Kevin was able to hold his own pretty well. But can you imagine!! So if someone will attack a kid\'s beliefs then what would they do with an adult. I also have been baptized about 5 years, perhaps more. I attend an Antiochian Parish.

I don\'t think I believe that all humor is based on cruelty... though I\'m not a big Nietzche fan. I think, maybe, that humor is based on incongruity?