It is Friday evening. The campus is quieting. The hours of sweat and toil in mind and body fade far away as Sabbath nears. Rush hour to the washers and dryers has come and gone. Left are the last stragglers, at least till Saturday night when the laundry rooms will open once again.

In no time at all, is seems, hundreds of us will be showered, dressed and on our way to the campus church. Like a steady stream, the procession will continue from each dorm, across campus lawns and into the sanctuary till all are inside. Greeting us will be our resident assistants, head deans, and the warmly lit sanctuary. The air will be filled with fine perfumes, and an organist will play skillfully on the large instrument.

Some of us walk among chatty groups of friends, others in a more quiet bunch. We walk hand in hand with our sweetheart, or we walk alone. Still more of us will be with our secret love. The one we must walk with as if we were two people alone, all but disconnected, if it were not for common friendship.

We will sing, pray, listen, and play during this time of rest called “Sabbath”. As I watch my friends with their opposite sex lovers, I feel more sharply, the pain of not having you, the ‘he’ who is for me. I will not be able to walk hand-in-hand with you after vespers. I won’t stroll along the promenade with you as other couples will do together. And I will miss these years. I will not experience this time of finding love, and spouse as others are experiencing it.

In the years that follow, I will have to search and search again for you. I think about my male friends of old. Your face flashes before my mind when I remember you. I often ask myself “I wonder where that one is? Did this one get married? Was he like me? And even so, would we be good for each other? Who much has he changed?”

Sometimes I will get discouraged, and think that my search is in vain. But I pray, that I will pray and hope for my strength to be renewed. I will pray that my hope will fly like the eagles. And one of these Fridays I will truly be in Eden.

I will walk with you in special places. I will look into your eyes and see your love for me, just as I want my love to shine from my own eyes to you. I will hold you in my arms and know that you are my man, and you will hold me in your own strength. You will engulf me in your arms and I will feel your breath on me.

And again in this new Eden, your heart will sing as I am with in the evening light, the brightness of day or the dark of night – approaching the arena, the music hall or the theater. We shout and cheer, listen, and watch. We each know that you are not just with me – you are mine, and I am not just with you – I am yours.

And forever may it be for all time. This Friday in Eden.

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