The Pagan Path

Those who wonder are not lost; they are trying to awaken! 'The Sleeper must awaken!'

Thursday, April 12, 2018

The Truth About Jeremiah Bereano

I heard the news today; a good friend of mine has passed away: into the next life, that is! Jeremiah had always been a good friend of mine: though he could be a bit of a bullfrog, I had always listened to him whine. From a distance, anyway; if I had to deal with his crap anywhere but over the phone, he probably would have passed a lot sooner! I never got the chance to meet Jeremiah Bereano face-to-face, but I felt like I knew him ( maybe better than most ) anyway. So good, that he almost seemed to know me better than I knew myself. The distance between us seemed insurmountable, but it felt like, no matter the distance that separated our mortal bodies, or how long since we had last spoken ( on the phone ), it seemed that when we most needed comforting or a swift kick in the ass, we were there for each other: I will miss Jerimiah!

Maybe we found such great kinship in our mutual struggles: we both had similar experiences ( though different ) when it came to the fairer sex; when it came to matters of religion, we were probably more on the same page than either of us would have liked to admit, although I tend to imagine that if he knew how far I have expanded my horizons since last we spoke, he would most likely call me a heretic! ( Oh, wait......) He was definitely more of a stickler for 'that old time religion' than I was, even though he, like I, had a penchant for questioning the unquestionable! In retrospect, I'm beginning to wonder if he wasn't exploring the same rabbit-hole as I!

From my many conversations with Jeremiah Bereano, I had begun to suspect that he was not quite 'normal' ( 'what IS normal, right?' ) It was not that he couldn't carry on an intelligent or intelligible conversation: in fact, that was probably what attracted my attention in the first place. No, Jeremiah could most certainly hold his own when it came to theological discussions, though he definitely had a rather unorthodox style. His eccentricity ( if that's the right word ) came into play when the topic of conversation strayed outside his comfort zone, even, it seemed, into matters of ordinary, everyday life. Obviously, at least from what little I was able to glean from our conversations, he had been able to lead a fairly normal existence ( 'again.....' ), but I guess my opinion of him had, for the majority of our acquaintance, been that he was a bit of an 'idiot savant'!

I'm not being overly harsh, speaking ill of the dead, or anything, because he was definitely NOT what most would call 'mentally handicapped'! I could always empathize with his whining ( even if my first thought WAS to kick his ass! ), because I could feel his pain. Coming from similar backgrounds, facing similar ( though different ) obstacles in life, Jeremiah and I shared a kinship that, though never named, was felt strongly, but never mentioned ( between us ) as such. In fact, our kinship was SO strong ( some might call it 'kindred spirits' ) that I have a very strung hunch, a feeling, you might say, in my innermost being, that I have not heard the last of Jeremiah Bereano!

Before hearing of his passing, I had not heard from or about my friend for quite some time, so when I DID hear about it, although I was not too surprised by the news, I almost felt a pang of regret that we had not spoken more recently than we did. What's done is done, though; I know that Jeremiah will never be on the other end of the line with me, nor will we ever meet face-to-face, but his spirit will always be with me, his wisdom will always be there to guide me as I follow the crooked path that has been set before me.

I will never forgot the hurdles that he often presented me with, or the way he encouraged me ( though, usually it felt like he was kicking MY ass! ) to explore my own stance. Jeremiah Bereano, though I never actually ( physically ) met him, was, as far as I'm concerned, was a giant among men; the world would probably be a better place if there were more like him! But who knows, maybe if there's something to that 'reincarnation' thing, the world will see him again!

No RIP for Jeremiah ( the bullfrog )!

Charles Haddon Shank

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