By Steve Coan and Jon StratfordOnce upon a time there was a captain named Steve who sailed a ship he called
The Moonshine. He heard of a brave new world out west across the sea, and determined to shake off the fears of sea dragons and cataracts tumbling into the abyss for those who sailed too far from the land of Sin Management. So he mended his sails, patched up his vessel, loaded up his band of merry men and women, and embarked on a great adventure. Two days at sea, he encountered another seaworthy vessel,
The Joseph, with a brave man named Jon at the helm. Captain Jon too had heard of the land of Desire and was determined not to live another day of his life except that it be in quest of that heav'n-blest land. Captain Steve and Captain Jon decided to sail together for a time, operating both crafts, reasoning that two were better than one for the protection and the insurance against enemies of weather and dragons and pirates and saboteurs—and also preserving the option to separate if need be. Life was good. And they were on their way.
Now both captains knew full well the reasons for leaving Sin Management. They'd memorized all her laws, lived her rules and customs, and discovered first hand her weaknesses. They remembered the sadness, the shame, and the daily sorrows that land had brought all who dwelt there. For never a day passed in that place that they didn't see someone carrying a basket of Sin, looking for a place to bury it or otherwise get rid of it. No one really knew where the Sin came from, just that every so often during the day, they had to get it out of their bodies. So whenever they felt the urge, they would deposit the Sin into large round baskets. As this happened every day, there were always baskets to be emptied. Over the centuries there had formed many clans across the land of Sin Management. Each clan had its own laws and customs, all centered around how to properly dispose of the Sin.
The Gleneezie Clan would wrap the baskets of Sin in pretty paper and stack the baskets in such a way that they could be used as furniture. No one seemed too concerned with the volume, they simply spent their energy making attractive papers to wrap up the baskets. But there were always more baskets than they could use for furniture, and the stacks of unused baskets at times would fall and kill some of them. But, they reasoned, at least the colors are pretty.
The Rowman Clan would just let the Sin pile up in their houses all week, then on Saturday night one of their members, wearing a beautiful red cloak, would come and pour oil on the pile until the Sin soaked into the ground. The other clans never understood why the members of this clan never seemed bothered by the piles that built up through the week, nor why they didn't seem to notice the smell of the Sin in the ground. It seeped back into their lives like a poison, and many died from it.
Another clan spent more time than any devising ways to get rid of the Sin. The odd thing about this clan was, they produced more Sin than any other clan. And the more they produced, the more time they dedicated to devising new and interesting ways to dispose of it. So much time they did spend, that it became all they did, and they began to quite enjoy it. They were the McLeegle Clan. The members of McLeegle Clan worked harder than any other clan at sharing their ways and customs with the other clans. But none of the other clans would listen, for if there was one thing all the other clans shared, it was a genuine hatred of the McLeegle Clan.
But both captains had seen a vision of Desire, and now there was no going back. And yet, they took in their hearts and in their minds the best memories of the motherland. But memories were not the only thing they brought with them for the journey. Each captain had, unbeknownst to the other, taken on board some baskets from the home land, in the event they continued to produce Sin every day. Indeed, they and their crews did continue to produce Sin, going below each time the urge overtook them, and making deposits in the baskets. This was the one secret the crews and their Captains kept from each other.
In spite of the growing baskets of Sin, the captains and their crews sailed along. Their days were filled with the normal duties and chores of running a ship, such as mending the ropes, swabbing the decks, and cleaning the cannons. The crews quite enjoyed these chores, for they were accompanied by such singing as no ship back home had ever heard. In fact, they often invented new sea shanties, spontaneously it seemed. And what a pleasant surprise, for this had never happened in the Land of Sin Management. One man would sing the first verse and the chorus, and another would begin the second without hesitation. When the chorus came back 'round, everyone would join in with a great gusto! One particular shanty became their favorite. They named it
Heart of Desire:
Come cheer up, me lads! to Desire we steer,
Tis a land of adventure and never of fear;
To freedom we call you, not press you like slaves,
For who are so free as the sons of the waves?
Heart of Desire are our ships, hey ho!
Heart of Desire are our men, hey ho!
We always are ready, steady, boys, steady!
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.
We ne'er see our foes but we wish them to stay,
They never see us but they wish us away;
If they run, why we follow, and run them ashore,
For if they won't fight us, we cannot do more.
Heart of Desire are our ships, hey ho!
Heart of Desire are our men, hey ho!
We always are ready, steady, boys, steady!
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.
They swear they'll invade us, these terrible foes,
They frighten our women, our children, and beaus;
But should their flat bottoms in darkness get o'er,
Still brave men they'll find to receive them on shore.
Heart of Desire are our ships, hey ho!
Heart of Desire are our men, hey ho!
We always are ready, steady, boys, steady!
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.
We'll still make them fear, and we'll still make them flee,
And we’ll drub 'em on shore, as we've drubb'd 'em at sea;
Then cheer up, me lads! with one heart let us sing:
Follow the Heart of Desire and be free!
Heart of Desire are our ships, hey ho!
Heart of Desire are our men, hey ho!
We always are ready, steady, boys, steady!
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.One day Captain Steve, not entirely seriously, said "It must be the wind is teaching you these songs." And from that day, both crews began to say whenever a new song came to them, "We got another shanty from the wind!"
They noticed that on days when the shanties came to them in the wind, or on days when there was a storm, there was almost no Sin produced! But still no one spoke of the Sin. They also noticed that the singing and the cleaning and the hoisting and the mending made the journey so pleasant they each began to feel a kind of sorrow for the days ahead when they would no longer be able ride the waves together. But no one spoke of the sorrow. Instead, on they sailed, singing the songs of the wind, and hoping they would make it to the Land of Desire.
At times, that same wind that gave them their songs would blow up a storm with great force. Yet, as they would realize much later, they never felt any danger from it. The storms in this ocean were very strange, for whenever a real gale came up, it seemed somehow to trouble only one of the ships, tossing it about in the waves. So they devised a plan, whereby when one ship began to encounter the wind and the waves, her captain would hoist a red flag. The sailor in the crow’s nest in the gentler water would call out a signal to his own crew, and immediately they would hoist a white flag, unfurl all the sails, and set a course that would take them out in front of the ship that was wrestling so mightily with the elements. And in such a manner, the ship in the calm would lead the ship in the storm safely through.
In fact, the crews came to relish the times when the ships were tossed about in the giant waves. "The winds are a blowin'!" they would shout, as only a sailor can shout. For it was during these stormy times that the ship in the calm would cut through the sea faster than ever! For the same wind that caused the feisty waves filled the sails of the other ship and brought on such a smooth, swift ride that it seemed they were flying!
After each storm passed, they at once found themselves sailing in calm seas. And it came to pass that after they had weathered a storm, other vessels they would meet, navigating the sea, full of people who did not come from the land of Sin Management, and had never heard the ways of the old world. Their ships all ran low in the water, their hulls full with Sin, which they only threw into a huge pile. Some of the ships ran so low, it appeared they would go under at any time. The Captains thought it strange that these folk did not have baskets. And the thinking reminded them of the baskets stowed in their own hulls, now starting to fill up, for they had been at sea for some time. In their hearts, the Captains secretly wondered if they would even make it to the land of Desire before the Sin in their hulls sunk them.
Some of the ships they met were hostile, but some received them gladly and wanted to join their fleet when they heard about the Land of Desire. But the new crews did not understand when Steve and Jon said that the new world is
not like this, and it's
not like that. They thought that a very strange way indeed to describe a place. They wanted to know what it
is like. And they wanted to know why the inhabitants of the old world would ever stay in Sin Management, and why Sin was so important to them. Was Sin something they should be afraid of? Was it something they should learn about? Would there be Sin in the Land of Desire?
Now Captain Steve and Captain Jon thought long and hard about this riddle. If someone could only be an inhabitant of the new world, why would he need to know the rules and customs of the old? But on the other hand, the old world did offer a certain framework for social order, and it was good to identify with those in one's clan. But it was in large part this burden that they had sailed west to escape, and they certainly wanted their progeny to spend their lives on Desire rather than having to deal with Sin every day. And yet, the stories of the great plagues that swept the old world before the good news of Desire reached her ears haunted both Captains. What was the answer to this riddle? For a time, Captain Steve and Captain Jon didn't discuss the riddle with each other, for they assumed that the other knew the answer. But they didn’t want to ask.
So on they sailed with their newfound friends.
Sometimes, the wind would nearly die—never completely, but only nearly—and the ships could come very close together safely. It was during one of these calms that the captains got together, as was their great pleasure, to talk about the wonders they were experiencing along the journey to Desire. The Captains were sitting together on deck one day, when Steve said, "Remember the days back in Sin Management?"
Jon spoke thoughtfully, "Yes, sometimes my memories are so clear. If I go below deck where it's dark and the wind isn't blowing, and close my eyes, it’s almost like I am there again."
"I have known that as well. Each time I go below and see the memories in my mind, I have to find a basket and make a deposit," confessed Steve, looking out to sea. It was the first time either of them had spoken of the Sin.
"You mean," started Jon, "you still make deposits?" He paused. "You too?"
Steve turned and looked his friend in the eye, and at once the full meaning of Jon's response sank in. They both had brought baskets, both crews were making deposits, both ships were filling up. Steve rose up in his seat, with a courage only a Captain can muster, and said, "We've got to do something about Sin."
Jon stood as well. "And we've got to solve that riddle," he said, with a resolve that only a Captain has.
That day a storm blew in that was the most intense they had ever seen. And for the first time, both
The Moonshine and
The Joseph struggled mightily to stay afloat. They had to do something about the Sin in the hulls, and they had to do it quick, or it would be their end! But there was no time. The waves rose higher than they had ever seen, and each captain felt fear as they looked out and saw the other hoist the Red Flag about the same time. There was nothing to do but drop sail, weather the storm, and hope for the best. But it was too late to drop the sails, for the waves grew too high, and the wind blew too hard. What a foul storm this was!
It was just then that the sailors of both ships began to sing a new shanty. They had come to enjoy the storms to such extent that their singing could be heard even above the howling of the wind! Both crews sang out:
Up aloft, amid the rigging
Swiftly blows the fav'ring gale,
Strong as springtime in its blossom,
Filling out each bending sail,
Rolling home, rolling home,
Rolling home across the sea,
Rolling home to dear Desire
Rolling home, dear land to thee.The waves continued to batter the ships, and the sails, stretching in the wind, drove them through the waves with tremendous speed! The crews continued their singing, the Captains listening with amazement. What was this strange song the wind had given the men today?
Full ten thousand miles behind us,
And ten thousand miles before,
Ancient ocean waves to waft us
To the well remembered shore.
Rolling home, rolling home,
Rolling home across the sea,
Rolling home to dear Desire
Rolling home, dear land to thee.No sooner had these words risen from their throats, than a huge wave, the size of which no man on either vessel had ever seen, washed over both ships, covering the decks and pouring into the holds! Both captains knew their ship was taking on too much water! Both captains feared for the lives of their crews! The sailors clung to the rigging, the masts, and whatever they could grasp! Surely this was their end!
But after many hours, the storm passed. The wind died down to a pleasant breeze, and the waves calmed. The Captains, half in fear, half in exhilaration from having bested the storm, walked the length of their ships, surveying the damage. Not a single sailor had perished, and nothing on board seemed to have been lost. The decks gleamed in the sun, and the sails were whiter than they had ever looked before! With fear, each Captain peered into the hold, expecting to see their reflection in the water that had washed into the belly of the ship. Instead of seeing water, they stared in amazement—the holds were empty! The baskets and the Sin were gone! The water had somehow taken it all away! Why, it had never occurred to either captain to throw the Sin overboard! It couldn’t be that simple, could it?
They each pondered this for a time. Then they both looked up, and after giving the command to lower the red flags, they looked out to sea, the wind in their faces. And the Captains began to sing:
And the wind that blows around us
Seems to whisper as it flies;
I have tarried here to bear you
The sea's the home you dearly prize!
Rolling home, rolling home,
Rolling home across the sea,
Rolling home on dear Desire
Rolling home, dear land to thee!The Captains gave the command, "Let the wind take us where she will!
This is the Journey of Desire!"
The Captains soon learned that whenever there was Sin, if it was thrown overboard, it disappeared before it hit the waves! And they learned that if they were foolish enough to let it accumulate in the hold, a fearful storm would rise up, and there would be cleansing again. But that kind of cleansing was had not without great danger. They learned that whenever a sailor was missing from his post, he could be found below, standing in the darkness, dreaming of the old days back in Sin Management. And they found that the only way to awaken him was to leap to the deck and start a shanty. So they resolved to sing often, and that is what they did, every day.
The Moonshine and
The Joseph met many more ships on their journeys. Whenever they encountered a heavy-laden ship, they would ask permission to come aboard, and it was "All Hands Below Deck!" until every last bit of Sin had been thrown overboard and the sinking ship sailed high on the waves of Desire once again.
Then they would teach the crew to listen to the wind, and to sing sea shanties.
