LISTEN TO LEARN by Robert Soto

March 19, 2010

LISTEN TO LEARN by Robert Soto

Micah 6:1 Listen to what the LORD says: "Stand up, plead your case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say."

In the past two weeks I have met and talked to several Indian people who just found out they are Indian. For most of them it was an eye-opening revelation. All their lives they saw themselves in one way and now they have realized that they are not what they thought they were. One person told me, "All my life, I felt that there was something missing. I would look in the mirror and see that there was more to me that what I saw. Now I know what was missing." So for me, it has been an opportunity to teach because most of these people want to know all they can now about what it is and what it means to be American Indian. As I sat with one man today he asked, "Now that I am Indian, what do I do?" He wanted more than just to know who he was; he wanted to know what this newfound revelation meant.

I cannot imagine how they are feeling. I can't imagine what is going through their minds. I have known since I was eight years old that we were Lipan Apaches. I grew up being Lipan Apache. That is all I have ever known - being Lipan Apache. For a lot of these people, though, it is like getting your face completely redone and the person you see in the mirror is not the person you once knew. So my advice to them is twofold. One, learn all you can of your family line. Understand and know the ancestors you came from. Secondly, see how you can serve the tribe - not how the tribe can serve you. Be a family and a help, not a burden and waiting for a handout. Micah said to those who were ignorant of their calling for God, "Listen to what the LORD says: "Stand up, plead your case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say." I say to them as Micah told the people he was teaching, "Listen to what the LORD says..." And while you listen, learn as much as you can of how to be all God the Creator meant you to be.

Robert Soto, Lipan Apache and pastor of:

McAllen Grace Brethren Church
The Native American New Life Center
Chief of Chiefs Christian Church