She was born into slavery and named Araminta Ross.
By the time she was 5 years old, she was rented out to other slave owners as a house servant.
She was only 5'2".
She never learned to read or write.
As Isaiah prophesied of Jesus, "He had no form or comeliness that man should desire him," Harriet Tubman was very plain by most people's standards.
Add to that, when she was just 12 years old, a white man threw a weight at her for refusing to tie up an escaper. It hit her in the head and left her with permanent brain damage that caused seizures.
If anyone had an excuse for underachieving, It was Araminta Ross. But she chose a different course.
The same weight that had fractured her skull and given her seizures, seemed to remove a veil from her mind. She had visions from God that kept her and those in her keeping safe.
When she married a free black man by the name of Tubman, she changed her name from Araminta to her mother's name, 'Harriet' and took her husband's last name. But when she escaped from slavery with two of her bothers, her husband didn't want to go with her and later married someone else.
But once young Harriet knew the route to freedom, she couldn't rest while those pining for freedom lacked only a guide.
Over her lifetime, she led at least 17 groups of slaves to freedom, using the already-established 'Underground Railroad.'
She later served as a spy for the Union Army during the civil war.
Her biographers record that she had very little thought for herself and lived in constant danger in the hope of helping others.
As we sit in our safe houses, free to choose our own destiny, often eating and sleeping more than we need, that one who had nothing but her faith and courage changed the world for so many? How can we use our many resources to make the world a better place? Who can we help? Before I start making excuses, I'll run them by Harriet Tubman and see how well they stand.
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