The Heretic

He was never called as such, but everyone in the community was sure that he was, and that included me. We dubbed him “pope,” “attorney” and the kids all called him either “lolo” or “uncle,” and all the while he gave us enough space to interact with him. I thought of him as rather odd because I was in and out of his house as a close friend of his children. He had all the tools at home, and the latest, expensive and rare ones. He was also authoritarian and brash, and a no-nonsense guy.    I eventually grew up to be able to rub elbows with this guy [coz as a kid I was rubbing my head to his knees], and to see eye to eye with him. We were neighbors again when I returned to the village after eleven years of my wandering. This time I wanted to get into the soul of this mysterious guy who by this time was mellowing as he aged. He was still the know-it-all guy but now he had a new air around him. It was something I had to get to the bottom of.   My investigation and interaction revealed that he was fooling around with doctrines that were labeled by the village leaders as unorthodox and in conflict with the existing doctrines of the village. He was not silent about this fact and would engage anyone who touched on the subject. This would explain why people would avoid meeting him on the street. He was also like a magnet to serious bible scholars who were not allowed by the village leaders to visit his place.   This time I didn’t want to judge him without objectively scrutinizing everything that he believed, and in the process something indescribable happened to me. I found out later that I had been possessed by the same spirit that had him, and I started believing and talking like him.   This got the attention of the village leaders and they moved heaven and earth to kick me out of the village, saying that I was a heretic. Was I a heretic? Does honest study and belief in the bible make one a heretic? The hero of this essay [not me] eventually retired and left the village. He moved to America where he breathed his last, and now he sits by the bosom of Abraham.    He may be looking down at me as I write this piece and only now will he realize that he was instrumental in my salvation and to threescore more who took up his cause. I dedicate this blog entry to the most misunderstood man in the community, the heretic for God and the light that set me on my road to heaven, Alfonso Melgar Sr., may you rest in peace.