Libre Life [DOT] Org

Religion

Dec., 30, 2025

My Icon Wall I am a recently baptised Orthodox Christian. After a few years of searching, I have found my home in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, Orthodox Church.
My religious background is surprising not very eventful, I was raised pretty secular; As most Americans are raised now, we still had the ghosts of Western Christian culture, we had Christmas, Easter, and St. Patrick's day. But on those holy days we didn't celebrate what they were originally created for. But rather their secular corporate rebranding.
On Easter (Pascha), it was not about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, his defeating of death by death,The Paschal Sermon, Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople. https://www.oca.org/fs/sermons/the-paschal-sermon. nor passover. But rather candy, and an egg-hunt, not saying that those things were or are bad, but I didn't even really know what Easter was or why we celebrated it.
Same for St. Patrick's day, but Christmas was always a little bit different. It was still mostly about Santa Claus and getting / giving gifts, but I think one due to the name "Christ-mas", and the person of St. Nickolas, there was still a Christian element to it. Even modern Christmas music still speaks of the Christ-child and the Virgin Mary.
But, I still didn't know really what the religion of Christianity believed; Religion wasn't something spoken much about in my house, I did learn the very-very basics of the world faiths, I learnt of Judaism and their holiday (Holy-day) Hanukkah, along with the far-eastern religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as Greco-Roman paganism.
But I was brought up with nothing, however that works... But in my early teens, I became more interested in religious discussion, but ironically, it lead me towards Atheism and then Antireligion-ism Also known as "New Atheism". which now looking back, it's very sad yet comical to have your belief system be defined as being an anti anything, it is like being a spiritual reactionary.
That was all during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and I basically realised that by practising what I preached de facto Nihilism, I was just wasting my short life doing nothing for no reward, and I wasn't happy doing it.
I, like many others were kinda stuck in the Western paradigm of either being Protestant or Roman Catholic. So when I started my journey into properly researching Christianity, I first went the protestant route, (mainly due to issues I had with the papal claims), I picked up an NIV which was gifted to my father by my grandfather. I am quite critical of the NIV now, but I do think it is good for teens and pre-teens, or people with a lower reading level, with proper guidance of course. I read the Gospel of Matthew, Revelation, and the first section of Exodus. And alongside a more scholarly look into things, via online documentaries, I didn't get a perfect understanding, but a much better one than I had before of the Christian faith.
After attending a quite low-church evangelical church that some of my family also attended, I knew something was missing, I could tell there was something unique about the Christian faith compared to the rest of the world religions, but modern, Western Christianity felt dead, and a shell of what I knew what the Christian faith truly was.
And around that time, I was starting to hear of another branch of Christianity that was neither Catholicism nor Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy! I actually passed an Orthodox almost weekly my whole life, but I never really gave it thought when I first started looking into Christianity.
But after giving it a good solid look, listening to Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike, explaining their belief, right then and there, I knew it was the true Church. I couldn't properly put it into words at the time, but I could see it had everything good that I liked about Roman Catholicism, but without any of the errors I saw in Rome either.
I couldn't properly put it into words at the time, but I could see it had everything good that I liked about Roman Catholicism, but without any of the errors I saw in Rome either.

That was about two years ago now, and I am finally a member of Christ's Holy body, I have learnt and changed so much from those two years, and I have to say, most of it wouldn't be without the Orthodox Church. I am so thankful for my priest, my godfather, my patron saint Ambrose of Milan, the Theotokos, and Jesus Christ, for I don't know where I would be without them.

-- Ambrose.