to all the canons, creeds, texts, rubrics, and services of Orthodoxy. This is probably more so for people coming to the Faith from the stripped down world of American Christianity. The richness, the possibilities, the guidance, even the sense that there’s more to faith than repeating songs on a television screen can be quite alluring.
Yet at best these are tools, not ends in themselves but helpers along the journey. They are essential and indispensible in some ways but not the end of the matter. The end of the matter is to be like Christ, to be joined to Him. Better, I think to strive to be like Christ because as you do all the canons and creeds and things that matter will be fulfilled and you lessen the risk of getting lost on your way Home while you were wandering through the books.
The Beautiful Path 