JUST A WILLING MAN by Robert Soto

JUST A WILLING MAN by Robert Soto

January 19, 2010

Hebrews 11:39-40 "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect."

As I sit here before my laptop, as I have for the last seven hundred and forty nine days since I starting writing Words from the Creator, the nation is celebrating the life of a man. He was not a perfect man but a man who decided to take a stand against the injustices of the times against his people. One might not remember all that he ever said, but one quote has echoed in the hearts and minds of minorities since the day he delivered it in August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. The words, "I have a dream" has echoed in the minds and hearts of millions who first heard it back in 1963 and for millions who have heard it since. I heard that dream, but for my eleven year old mind, it was just so many words of a man that meant nothing to me. But today, his speech rings in my soul each time I see what history has done to my people. If you do not know who this man is, it is Martin Luther King, Jr. who was born on January 15, 1929 and whose life was cut short by an assassin's bullet on April 4, 1968.

As I said before, he was just a man. He was just a man as Geronimo was just a man, as Cochise or Victorio were just men, as Crazy Horse and Quannah Parker were just men, as Chief Joseph was just a man and the list could go on of men among our people who were just men. But they were men who were willing to give it all up for the sake of their people. Men who knew that their years would more likely be cut short for taking a stand against the injustices that were directed against our people. Men who took a stand and paid the price. Not perfect men, but men as Martin Luther King, who decided to confront the opposition and were willing to give up their very lives for the sake of the people. These and millions like them were, as the writer of Hebrews in the Bible described, destitute, persecuted and mistreated. Men and women of who the world was not worthy. Men and women who never received what had been promised but were willing to sacrifice their lives because there was a great blessing set before them. That was the blessing that they were willing to die for so that others could live and succeed. Martin Luther King was a man of courage. A man who through his life influenced me and the way I think.

Robert Soto, Lipan Apache and pastor of:

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