Well, Gurney ...
One of the things that drew me to the Orthodox Church was the theology. And I immersed myself for a while. But around the time I was baptized and began to participate in the Sacramental life of the Church - all of that became WAY more important to me. Prayer, attending the Liturgy (and being in prayer mostly while there), receiving the Eucharist. It was like life breathed into me again. Thank God.
To be honest I'm still not that drawn to reading, but I had been seeking help from someone willing to untangle a rather confusing combination of practices and experiences and such over the past quite a few years - and I finally found someone willing and able to do so. He gives me reading assignments.
But I'm not complaining. The truth is, I had run around reading everything that caught my interest before, sometimes to good effect but sometimes not. And I have to admit, he's building a very nice foundation for me, and been immense help in a number of ways, so I'm inclined to cooperate.
To be honest, probably slowly. I've finished something like three books he assigned, I think, and am working on three more. It's taken me about three months to read the first three.
Just thought it might be interesting to chat about. I've gotten good insights along the way by hearing others' opinions about them as well.
(Oh, and you'd probably feel at home in our parish. Almost nobody reads, lol. They are almost all cradle Orthodox. Our "parish library" is just sad. We have a room with old books - mostly multiple copies of old Sunday school books maybe? I found exactly three titles in English I had any interest in, and one turned out to be only the text of the Baptismal service. Really only one good book - on the theology of icons.)
I think spiritual reading is good, but some people think they just must be reading all the dang time!
