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what is belonging?

our children belong to God before they belong to us, before they belong to the world, and before they eventually belong to themselves. our parents belong to us, then they belong to the world, and sometimes they can even figure out a way to belong to themselves. our animals belong to their litters and to the streets before they belong in our homes and go back to God. our lovers belonged to their pasts before they ever belonged with us, until it comes time for us to release them.

and you have to ask the right questions. it’s not, “do i belong to this place? or to these people?” it’s, “does this place belong to me? does this person belong to me? or do they belong with someone else? is it for someone else to tend to them, and not me?” do you want to know who you belong to? ask yourself today, “am i a star, a planet or a black hole?”

black holes will take anyone and anything; they gobble everything up and are always hungry for more. there’s not enough light in the universe that would make them whole. black holes belong to no one but themselves.

planets do not belong to one another; planets want stars. because they don’t make their own light, they need stars to experience day and night. planets belong to their stars.

stars are on fire, glittering the entire universe. stars don’t see planets. they are burning too bright and too far away to know or even care whose lives they illuminate. stars are lonely in this way but that’s how stars belong to one another. what you will find, at the end of the day, is that belonging is beloved.