We’ve Forgotten How to Belong

"I just don’t know where I belong."

You hear this in different forms, again and again. It shows up in questions about identity, in conversations about mental health, in the ache people carry when they say they feel lost, isolated, or adrift.

We live in a time of deep dislocation. Many people feel alone. They long for connection – but struggle to find it. And those who do find something often wonder why it feels thin, impermanent, and exhausting.

The truth is hard:

We didn’t just lose belonging. We let go of it.

We Let Go of What We Needed Most

For decades, our culture has encouraged us to unmoor ourselves:

• Leave home. Leave tradition. Leave religion.

• Cut off "toxic" family.

• Break free from anything that feels limiting or demanding.

We have been told that real freedom means standing alone. That commitment is dangerous. That obligation is oppressive. That we are the authors of our own identity, and that anyone who says otherwise is a threat to our autonomy.

So we left.

We left the structures that formed us. We abandoned the sources of meaning that once grounded us. We walked away from the communities that once gave us a name.

And now we are surprised to feel so alone.

Disconnected and Drifting

In place of real community, we have digital connection. In place of belonging, we have branding. In place of family, we have curated social circles. In place of the Church, we have vague spirituality and aesthetic vibes.

But these substitutes cannot carry the weight of a human soul. They do not know us. They do not love us. They do not call us higher.

They give us attention, but not communion.

Real Belonging Requires Something of Us

We long to belong, but we do not want to be claimed. We want connection, but not obligation. We want affirmation, but not formation.

But that is not how love works.

Belonging means giving yourself to something greater. It means accepting limits. It means receiving identity as a gift, not inventing it as a performance. It means being part of a people, not just a brand.

We have forgotten how to belong because we have forgotten how to commit.

The Church: The Home We Left

The Church is not a hobby. It is not a lifestyle add-on. It is not just another voice in the noise.

The Church is a people. A family. A communion. A home.

It does not always affirm your feelings. It forms your soul. It does not bend to your preferences. It conforms you to Christ.

And in that transformation, you find yourself.

You find your name. Your mission. Your place. Your family.

The Invitation

You were not made to drift. You were not made to perform. You were not made to build your identity from scratch and carry it alone.

You were made to be known.You were made to be loved.You were made to belong.

And that invitation still stands.

The Father is still calling. The Church is still open.

Come home.