joanawanders

I once heard a song that said, “Every time I look up in the sky, I see stars, and I can hear my God say, “This is who you are.”

I don’t remember the title or the rest of the lyrics, but that one line stayed with me. And now, every time I look at the night sky, I am reminded of it. Like a quiet echo from somewhere beyond.

There’s something comforting about that. No matter how uncertain life feels, no matter how lost I get in my own thoughts, the stars remain. They don’t rush, they don’t demand anything. They just are… and when I look at them, I feel like I am, too. As if, for a moment, everything is exactly as it should be.

The first time I heard that song lyric, I thought it was just words. But then, on nights when the world felt heavy, when doubt settled into my bones, I would step outside, lift my gaze, and there they were.

The stars,

Shimmering in quiet defiance of the void. And the voice, always the same, always gentle but firm:

This is who you are.

At first, I wondered what it meant. Was it telling me I was small, just another speck in an endless universe? Or was it saying the opposite? That I, too, was made of fire and brilliance, that I belonged to something far greater than I could understand?

Maybe both.

I think about how stars burn, how they collapse, how they are born again in ways we cannot fully see. I think about how their light travels across time, reaching us long after they are gone. And I realized maybe I, too, am meant to burn, to fall apart, to rise again. Maybe my existence is not just a fleeting moment, but something eternal, something woven into the fabric of the universe itself.

And then, I notice the moon.

She stands among them, luminous yet quiet, letting the stars surround her. They do not compete. They do not dim her glow, nor does she take from their light. Instead, they exist together in harmony. Each shining in its own way, each holding space for the other.

Maybe I am both moon and star.

Some nights, I am the quiet glow, reflecting light in the darkness. Other nights, I am fire itself, burning with my own brilliance.

I am the one who looks up at the stars and listens. The one who feels the pull of something greater, something divine. The one who finds meaning in the quiet signs. The time on the clock, the shimmer of the moon, the words of a song that won’t leave my mind.

I am both light and shadow, fire and stillness.

I am someone who is searching, not because I am lost, but because I know there is more.

Maybe who I am isn’t something to find but something to remember. A truth that’s always been there, waiting for me to see it clearly. And maybe that’s why the stars keep calling, because they already know.