05/13/2026
My Honest Take on Eastern Orthodoxy
It is quite hard to join the Orthodox Church, but from the outset you may see signs that it is right for you. At least that is how it was for me.
If you are used to being love-bombed, visiting an Orthodox church is almost the opposite experience. I’m not suggesting Orthodox Christians are not hospitable, because many are very kind, but you may quickly notice that no one seems particularly interested in making you feel a certain way. The Church is simply being herself whether you are there or not.
People will be praying, lighting candles, venerating icons, crossing themselves, chasing children around, and carrying on with the rhythm of worship that existed long before you arrived. You are free to stand there quietly, ask questions, look around, or simply absorb it all.
No one is likely to argue with you either. Orthodoxy does not usually feel defensive. There is an understanding that this faith is not something grasped through a few debates or clever arguments. It must be lived, experienced, prayed, and endured over time.
And honestly, that can be strangely relaxing.
Within reason, no one expects much from you at first. But if you are a man, I still suggest leaving your hat in the car.
Everyone says that there are “no rules” in Orthodoxy, which is funny because there seem to be a hundred rules behind every little thing. Everything you see, hear, touch, smell, and taste carries layers of symbolism, theology, memory, and meaning developed over centuries.
Nothing in Orthodoxy comes without a theology attached to it. There is a theology of time, matter, beauty, suffering, hospitality, silence, death, prayer, and the body, just to name a few. We have Dogmatic Theology, Liturgical Theology, Ascetical Theology, Mystical Theology, Sacramental Theology, Apophatic Theology—the list feels endless.
So ask questions. Orthodoxy has been answering questions for two thousand years.
There are roughly half the days of the year devoted to fasting in some form. Most fasting means no meat or dairy, often no oil or wine, though sometimes fish is permitted depending on the feast or season.
Most Orthodox Christians at least aspire to pray a great deal.
Sunday liturgy can be long, and much of it is spent standing because we are worshipping before the King of Kings.
People avoid certain casual postures in church for the same reason. Not because God is fragile, but because reverence shapes the body as well as the mind.
Then there is Lent.
During Lent, the Church calls us into repentance, prayer, fasting, self-examination, and spiritual warfare in earnest. Orthodoxy takes demons, sin, and the unseen battle seriously, whether modern people find that uncomfortable or not.
And then comes Pascha.
I cannot properly explain Holy Week to someone who has never experienced it. The exhaustion, sorrow, incense, chanting, anticipation, stillness, grief, and finally the explosion of joy at the Resurrection of Christ—it does something to you.
I have watched children being born, and yet Holy Week remains one of the most profound experiences of my life.
Come, and see.
Kevin Bustard
