Jim,
I'm an off and on poster here, so I wasn't familiar with your background. I did catch one of your earlier posts but hadn't looked at your blog - suspecting that it was not going to be much different than that of any inquirer. Just read this latest entry and I have to comment on both the respectfulness with which you express your curiousity and understanding and the great analogies that you've drawn.
If you aren't already familiar with it, you might find very interesting a series of blog entries by a Protestant minister (Southern Baptist, if I remember correctly) on his visits to an Orthodox temple. Unlike you, he was not an inquirer but went from a sense of curiousity and self-education while on sabbatical from his church. However, some of the same wonderment and understanding are apparent in both blogs. I don't have the link at hand - though I know it was discussed both here and at the ByzCath forum and I suspect someone might be able to come up with it. If not, I'll dig around a bit.
My prayers for you on your spiritual journey.
Many years,
Neil (hey, my 400th post - how many years has that taken?)