I joined a sorority with the hope of making new friends and challenging myself to get outside of my “social comfort zone.” The initial buzz of excitement was real, but it didn’t take long for me to question the long-term value of being a member. Sure, the chapter dinners were full of laughter and the pictures from date parties made for great Instagram posts, but I had yet to experience community in a way that I felt truly known and loved for who I was.
However, on a cold January morning, I met Dana for coffee. At the time, Dana was a respected senior in our chapter and currently serving as Student Body Vice President—needless to say, when someone with those credentials asks you to get coffee, as a freshman in need of direction, you say yes. We had met one another a few times, but never engaged in real conversation at that point. She knew I had some kind of faith life from small comments I had made when recapping my weekend and mentioning that I had gone to mass. And she could tell that I had yet to find my fit within sorority life. As we talked, she led with vulnerability, sharing that not long ago, she felt similarly to me and was questioning if Greek life was really what she wanted for her life in college. But something changed in her, and she wanted to offer it to me.
That morning, we talked about Greek life as a battleground for people of faith. We were surrounded by cultural pressures to live, act, and think in ways that directly compete with the demands of our lives as followers of Jesus. Temptation and vice seem to persist among a culture that denies the goodness of true virtue. Yet, there we were. Equipped with the truth and a desire to live like Jesus calls us to live. In many ways, it can be challenging to turn that revelation into practical execution, but Dana encouraged me that day to keep trying, reminding me that God does not tell us that following Him will be easy, but rather that He will be with us.
Flash forward three years, and I am now that senior. I’ve remained a member of my chapter and invested in meaningful relationships with women who like me, want something more for their lives than what this world tells us is its best. It’s not easy. In fact, it’s really hard. There is immense vulnerability that comes with sharing your faith to someone who might not receive it fully. It can be intimidating to invite others to come to mass or join a small group, because being rejected is a real possibility. But there is fullness and goodness in trusting that through it all, Jesus is with you. He too was rejected, yet His invitation to love and be loved never goes away. It only takes one encounter to ignite the spark that lights the fire and leads to conversion. What changed in Dana was clearly the work of the Holy Spirit. She showed me that putting on our letters doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive from putting on Christ. In fact, it’s the opposite. Our shared Greek letters are an open door to a community where the small spark can grow into something much bigger—a fire in the hearts of women who together can build up His kingdom.