Sailing Paths

Head up and into the wind, I enjoy the sunlight on my face as I see the skyline of Boston recede. The ferry makes its way out of the harbor. From it, the city seems to rise straight out of the Atlantic. It must have seemed so even to those who sailed here in pre-revolution days.

In Sailing to Philadelphia, songwriter Mark Knopfler captures the feeling of journeying: “Now hold your head up, Mason, see America lies there. The morning tides have raised the capes of Delaware. Come up and feel the sun, a new morning is begun. Another day will make it clear why your stars should guide us here.” 

The song is a poignant expression of the courage and steadfastness of two men, surveyor Jeremiah Dixon and astronomer Charles Mason, called upon to go to a new land and draw what would become the Mason-Dixon line. 

Why did the stars guide me here? And now why are they taking me elsewhere? Certainly because I choose this way and not that. And yet, we cannot escape the sense that we are also chosen, guided, called. 

We saw His star. (Matthew 2:2) When we sail to a foreign shore, we learn that all paths indicate a Path, that all shores touch one Ocean.

Out on the water, away from shore, I hold my head up and see Your star. Amen. 

~~~~~~~~~~

I am Jeremiah Dixon
I am a Geordie boy
A glass of wine with you, sir
And the ladies I'll enjoy
All Durham and Northumberland
Is measured up by my own hand
It was my fate from birth
To make my mark upon the earth...

He calls me Charlie Mason
A stargazer am I
It seems that I was born
To chart the evening sky
They'd cut me out for baking bread
But I had other dreams instead
This baker's boy from the west country
Would join the Royal Society...

We are sailing to Philadelphia
A world away from the coaly Tyne
Sailing to Philadelphia
To draw the line
The Mason-Dixon line

Now you're a good surveyor, Dixon
But I swear you'll make me mad
The West will kill us both
You gullible Geordie lad
You talk of liberty
How can America be free
A Geordie and a baker's boy
In the forest of the Iroquois...

Now hold your head up, Mason
See America lies there
The morning tide has raised
The capes of Delaware
Come up and feel the sun
A new morning is begun
Another day will make it clear
Why your stars should guide us here...

We are sailing to Philadelphia
A world away from the coaly Tyne
Sailing to Philadelphia
To draw the line
The Mason-Dixon line

Sailing to Philadelphia on Itunes

See Live Performance by Mark Knopfler