Time to Start the IMPORTANT Blog
I’ve been meaning to start this particular blog up for some time now. I’ve started other blogs of this type that I didn’t have the desire to keep up. This was usually because making changes to them simply required more time than I had to give. Nevertheless, WordPress has a formula I like. I’ve managed to maintain another (IT/Mac-flavored) WordPress blog that I can happily say I’ve kept going consistently for a year now, so I’m probably on to something now. 
Despite the difference in demonstrated blog sustainability, Orthodox Christianity is a much more important part of my life than most people who know me probably understand. It influences my every decision from the moment I wake up and make the sign of the cross, until the time I cross myself before I go to sleep. It influences what I eat, what I drink, and how I see the world (or “world view”, for those of you into buzz words). However, it’s very important that I point out that I choose to be influenced in these ways.
I need to point out that I am a convert to Orthodoxy. I converted from Protestantism (I grew up attending Bright Temple AME (African Methodist Episcopal) in the Bronx, NY, although I couldn’t for the life of me tell you what AME stands for theologically) to Orthodoxy back in August 1992 while stationed in England for U.S. Air Force. After sharing my desire with a chaplain friend of mine, he didn’t seem very confident I would last. I remember him specifically saying, “You’ll be back.” Seeing as I had a great deal of respect for his knowledge and many years as a preacher, I became a bit nervous about my decision, though not at all hesitant. He definitely knew more than I did about matters of the faith, and I surely couldn’t have been the first person he met considering converting to some other form of Christianity. Well, it’s been over 15 years since that meeting, and my love of Orthodoxy has grown more than he or I ever could’ve imagined. The years haven’t been without their bumps, but whoever said they would be?
One bump that has gotten a lot better is the availability of Orthodox material for studying. When I first converted, most of the better books, essays, etc. were either in Greek or Russian, and while I can manage pretty well with the Liturgy in Greek, reading the works of St. Chrysostomos in Greek is waaaay beyond my ability.
Well, I could go on and on (which is probably a good sign for the life of this blog), but I’d better close by saying I do not plan on using this blog to look down my nose at my Protestant past. I’ve witnessed people doing that and it’s terribly embarrassing. While I, unquestionably, am satisfied beyond words about converting to Orthodoxy, I hope to never forget my Protestant past and the many people I worshiped with, learned from, admired, continue to admire to this very day, and love a great deal. There will, no doubt, be moments I have to explain why I prefer the Orthodox way of doing things over the Protestant way; however, I suspect there will also be the occasional moment when I explain why I prefer the Protestant way. That ought to be both challenging and healthy for me.
That said, it’s about time I wrap this first post up.
May God be with you. 
