AQC: The Significance of Mary Ingles’s Life

The Significance of Mary’s Life

Against what background can we view the life of Mary Ingles. What is the significance of this single event that people should continue to discuss it after so long a time? I think it can best be understood in the light of the great intellectual tradition that culminated in what is often referred to as the Judeo-Christian, or Biblical wisdom literature.

The significance of a single life in the worldview of the wisdom tradition can best be grasped, according to Prof. James Kugel of Harvard University, by comparing that life to the canvas of an artist. Each of us gets to paint a canvas; just one, then it is ours forever. Not everyone will produce a masterpiece. It is difficult to evaluate a painting — or a life — while it is in progress. What was potential becomes actual as the process continues, but many other possibilities are ruled out as the canvas fills up. At last it is filled up completely. It is only then that we can step back and see its significance: The past is present there on the canvas.

It is not the subject that counts. All those brushstrokes, and everyday events, were creating a stark reality, not shades of gray, but in black and white, standing aloof from the variegated intricacies of life — for neither money, ability, position, or intelligence, is what counts in the end. What counts in this view of the world is what Prof. Kugel calls “the sharp contrast of moral opposites and all-or-nothing choices”. With one bold stroke Mary marked her canvas forever. This event eclipses everything else in her life. It is the main thing we see when we see her canvas. It is not the journey itself that stands out; it is the spirit in which she did it. Her travelling companion made the same journey, but what tends to stand out there, for most viewers, is the “moral opposite” — even her name has been forgotten. We must not only do a thing, we must do it surpassingly well against all odds to produce a masterpiece.

The Song of Moses (Psalm 90), as Prof. Kugel says, stands as a kind of culmination of the wisdom tradition: The Psalmist reminds us that if, by reason of strength, we reach the age of fourscore years, still we are soon cut off and fly away: so teach us to number our days, and apply our hearts unto wisdom. Then the song continues, showing us the significance and value of life: Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children, and let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. It is this stark beauty that rests upon the life of such as Mary Ingles. The “all-or-nothing” choice was Mary’s, but both Mary and her son, John, attributed the accomplishment of it to the work of divine Providence. Her inspiring deed has enriched us by example, becoming part of the texture of our life and history. It teaches us to value the beauty possible in each individual life, for some of her beauty has come to rest upon us.

James Duvall, M. A.

Big Bone University: Think Tank & Public Policy Center
Nec ossa solum, sed etiam sanguinem.