He can. I don't really understand it either. I mean, I "know," but I don't understand. We long for companionship, friendship, community, love, because God made us that way. There's this phrase they like to use as an analogy. We have a "God-shaped hole." Because God is perfect... the perfect Father, Shepherd, Friend, Lover (this last one is harder to grasp... still learning to understand it)... He can fufill our longing for companionship. The problem is we're restless. I don't think I'm coherent enough right now to expound anymore.... I'll continue another day.

Today is the 3rd anniversary of September 11, 2001.

Hey friend =(

Sorry to hear you're going through a rough patch. Wish I could be there to help, but I think both of our schools are giving us quite a workout =P If you ever get tired of all those icky EE classes, feel free to drop by Rice next time you're in the neighborhood and I'll take you to some of my psyc classes =) Haha not that you'd probably find those more interesting.. (although 2 of them are engineering oriented, so maybe?).. but a change might be nice.

I think I know what you mean by being weary of talking, yet lonely if you don't. Sometimes it's still lonely even if you are talking... The happiness that comes with companionship can seem so ephemeral. You're always told that you shouldn't be lonely, that you always have God to turn to, if no one else. Is a relationship with God so similar to a relationship with a human being that one can substitute for the other? Supposedly God can substitute for humans.. Still, it's a hard fact to chew when you truly feel alone. No offense to God or anything.

Recently I saw someone's aim profile with an interesting away message, the gist of it being "I'm actually here at my computer, but I have an away message up just so that I won't have to talk to people." I thought to myself, I need one of those. Haha. It's like you still want to feel connected to other people (otherwise why not just sign off?), but you don't want to expend the effort to communicate. Because sometimes, it just takes too much effort, and you'd rather do anything, just anything else that takes your mind away from the loneliness.

Sorry, didn't mean to make this depressing =) *Patpat* I'll be praying for you, and I hope things get better.