One thing I really enjoyed about meeting the monks and priests of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was learning so much about one of the oldest expressions of Christianity that goes way, way back.
Within American Christianity, there are a lot more norms and perspectives that are more influenced by American individualism and industriousness than anything else. But going outside that bubble and remembering that the bigger faith is more global and diverse than that is important.
In Ethiopian Orthodox practice, things like devotion, fasting, and tending to nature are given a much higher priority than I’ve seen in any Christian denomination I grew up around. There’s a whole lot we could be learning from each other.