The arrival of Jessica Watson back in Australia was small news in cosmic terms. But it provoked a great deal of discussion around the morning coffee pot. Most had to do with values.
Some questions really said more about the questioners than about the sailor. Did those of us who frowned when she began her voyage now owe Jessica and the human race an apology for our little faith? And was her achievement more calculating and less impressive than we were being told?
Other questions were more perennial. Should we encourage our own 16-year-old daughter or son if they were inspired to take off on a similar trip? And was it right for anyone to do what Jesssica did, given that it would require great public resources to find and rescue her in the event of a mishap?
Jessica herself responded more than adequately to the first kind of question. She said she was not a hero but someone who was allowed to follow a dream. Her parents deserved more credit for encouraging her. She did not care whether she had broken a record. She had enjoyed sailing, and had done what she set out to do.
She confounded those who implied that she has measured her trip by the cash book, by knocking back lucrative but intrusive photo stories. Her own values proved to be more deeply grounded than her older admirers and critics. Indeed, her maturity made a good case for those of us who questioned her maturity to examine ourselves. And her modest words certainly suggested that many reporters and politicians might benefit from spending 200 days or so in solitude.
Whether she should have been encouraged to pursue her dream is a more interesting question. It makes us reflect on our own values and those of our culture. In contemporary culture the preservation of our own health and life is often seen as the supreme human value. My own life and health are more important than the life and safety of other human beings, more important than any other values that compete with them. Prudence demands that I protect my own life and health first.
That attitude flies in the face of the great stories of our traditions that praise those who have risked their life for something more important to them. The Christian tradition celebrates children who accepted death rather than renounce their faith. We