In regard to the person who asked the question about which jurisdiction to join, I have a reply: as long as it is a canonical Orthodox Church, its OK. I would stay away from noncanonical, schismatic "Orthodox" groups as they are usually quite sick spiritually. But if you are living in the United States, any of the SCOBA jurisdictions and ROCOR are what I'd call "safe, normal, canonical Orthodox jurisdictions." It seems to me that one of the temptations from an convert to Orthodoxy in American is trying to find the mythical "perfect jurisdiction." Such a creature does not exist. And bitterness and spiritual damage will only result from trying to hunt for this non-existent creature. If it were me, I would attend the closest Orthodox Church to me that worships in my own language. For those in more isolated parts of the US, a bilingual parish might be the only thing that is reasonably close. I think the MAIN thing is to realize that Orthodox is Orthodox, regardless of the jurisdiction. I would avoid like the plague the horrible practice of comparing one jurisdiction to another. All jurisdictions do some things well. All do some things poorly too. I would focus on living the Christian life, whereever I found myself. Be regular in attendance at liturgy, avail yourself of the Sacrament of Confession on a regular and consistent basis, keep a SHORT daily rule of prayer, practice moderate fasting under the direction of your parish priest, give up judging others, and try to be Christ-like to those around you, whereever you are. Avoid jurisdictional politics, avoid "super correctness" in liturgical matters, and accept the different ethnic groups within Orthodoxy and don't complain when they aren't like you.
Tikhon
