The world is a funny place. On one hand we experience great beauty and intimate love. We know what it’s like to have our breath taken away as we stand on top of a mountain and watch the sunset paint the sky red. We’ve experienced the joy of sitting in a coffee shop and sharing life with a good friend. We know how exciting it can be to learn something new that challenges or enriches our understanding of life.

On the other hand, the world can be a pretty difficult place. All you have to do is read the headlines to see that things are pretty messed up: war, genocide, epidemics, catastrophic climate change. Things don’t seem right. In our own lives we know what it’s like to experience betrayal, doubt, disappointment, and an inability to live up to even our own ideals.

Is there anything we can do? How are we supposed to respond to a world with so much pain and suffering? And how can all of this exist alongside such goodness and love? Are there answers to our questions?

Chi Alpha is a group of people who know that we don’t have all the answers. But we want to learn from someone who we think does. Our purpose is to get to know the life and teachings of Jesus, and to live these out in our everyday lives. We want to discover if this poor teacher from a distant time and place might be able to show us something about justice, integrity, love, caring for the environment, and even how to get along with our roommates. Just as he did, we want our lives to bring beauty, healing, hope, and forgiveness to the people we rub shoulders with every day.

We think Jesus showed us what it means to be truly human. We want to rediscover this for our own lives.