'Harriet,' the movie: 'This is what purpose looks like'

You have got to see it. I’m not a big movie person. It’s rare that I’ll watch one, much less recommend one. But “Harriet” is one you’ve got to see.

A week ago, I went to see this movie based on the life of Harriet Tubman, a slave, runaway, abolitionist and conductor of the Underground Railroad. It’s incredible.

Someone asked whether I was going to go see it, told me the day it would debut, and I made plans to go when family and friends would be here visiting. This would be special because, as some of you know, I am related to Harriet (Ross) Tubman, something I had been told when I was young and that was reiterated when family members did research for a family reunion several years ago. Like the rest of us who have ever heard of this historical icon, I am interested in her story, but for me, it is obviously even more than an interest. Her story is my story.

Everyone enjoys a good storyline, and knowing it’s based on history further draws us in. I was captivated. The acting, scenery, dialogue — all good. I knew, of course, Tubman was no ordinary woman. This “Moses” was on a mission. I knew she was not just compelled to experience freedom herself, but she was compelled to free as many others as possible. I knew some things about her parents and her husband and how they figured into the mission and revealed her character. I knew her use of a firearm was instrumental in her leadership. (For the sake of those who do not know and plan to see the movie — GO! — I won’t spoil it by giving details.) I also learned things I did not know. So even if you consider yourself a bit of a Tubman expert, my encouragement you see it remains.

But let me get to the reason I’m writing this column. Toward the end of the movie, something transpired that was deeper than being entertained by a good movie or feeling anger arise by the treatment of slaves or learning something about history. All of a sudden, I heard something — felt and heard something — in my spirit. As Harriet stood before the people who were counting on her to get them to their destination and destiny, “This is what purpose looks like” resonated within me. No, let me try that again: "This is what purpose looks like.” Understand, I think about purpose often. I wrote a book about purpose, “Push Your Way to Purpose: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You’re Meant to Be.” I deliver workshops about purpose. I do keynote addresses about purpose. And in a couple of days, I will be in New York leading a seminar about purpose. I often say purpose consumes me. I believe my purpose is to help others find their God-given purpose. Yet not until I was quite a ways into this movie did it dawn on me purpose was right there staring at me. To translate, it’s like God spoke to me: “Adrienne, take a look. This is it right here. This is purpose.” Then the voice inside went further as the movie continued, saying something like, “Because Harriet Tubman lived her purpose, these others will be able to live theirs.” That was powerful for me because of what I believe God has called me to do. Of course, I knew she was a woman of purpose, a woman called, a woman who would not be denied, a woman who obviously loved others. But at that moment, I more than knew it. I can’t quite explain it, but I recognized it as an example that I was to take hold of.

It wasn’t until a few days ago, while doing more prep work for my upcoming seminar, that I was perusing the last chapter of my book and noticed something I had forgotten: I ended my book by writing about Harriet Tubman — this Moses who was/is so instrumental in the shaping of the nation, in the writing of history, in the framework of my own family — and I connected her mission to my own. I don’t believe running across that chapter at that time was a coincidence. I believe I was being strategically reminded, as I endeavor to inspire others to seek, find, and live their purpose, what it looks like to go all-in, to walk in the purpose God has given them, to refuse to quit.

I don’t know what you’ll get out of the movie “Harriet.” Maybe you’ll just be entertained or learn a few things or be stirred with emotion. I just know I received all of that and more, and I desire more than ever to be a vessel God can use because I want to live a life of His purpose — and I got a closer look at what that looks like.

Adrienne Ross is owner of Adrienne Ross Communications and a former Southeast Missourian editorial board member.