A colleague departs for the Orient

We gnash our teeth and weep over a colleague's recent departure to the Orient. We wish him luck and bid our final farewells in full knowledge that this is the last we may see of our friend. For we know what lurks beyond University Avenue. History bears witness to the mystical passion burning deep in the desert of the Oriental mind, and however hardily constituted we may trust our dear philosopher's mental mettle to be, it is a dangerous test to which the Orient subjects a good Christian, however thoroughly immersed in the advantages of Civilization his formative years may have been. Still, we hold out a minor hope that axl may retain, even among the peoples of the East, a sense of what was once a robust masculinity, a firm trust in ὁ λόγος, and the most unwavering commitment to sexual orthodoxy manifest in the West since the years prior to the good Rev. Graham's loss of innocence, albeit after a long and heroic struggle with Beelzebub. In any case, godspeed, friend, and may we be blessed with your safe return to the Pub next Tuesday...