Bible helps answer film’s riddle of the ‘one thing’ we all need to find

THE film City Slickers was released 30 years ago. Why it has taken me three decades to get round to watching it I have no idea but it was certainly worth the wait. At one level it is a comic romp through three friends’ mid-life crises with a wise-cracking Billy Crystal at its heart. But there is also a more serious thread to the film.

The friends book a two-week holiday to herd cattle across America as an alternative to their city-based business lifestyles. Billy Crystal’s character is looking to discover what happened to his joy and zest for life. The grizzled cowboy in charge of the novice herders tells him there is one thing that he needs to find. The film shows him discovering what that one thing is.

The Bible has much to say about this “one thing”. In Psalm 27 the writer says they are asking God for “one thing”: that they might dwell in God’s house for ever. A blind man whose sight is restored by Jesus is asked to by religious leaders to explain what has happened. He replies, “One thing I know. I was blind now I can see”. At the home of

Mary and Martha, as Mary sits and listens to Jesus while Martha is busy with the affairs of the home, Jesus says that Mary has discovered the “one thing” that is needed. In a similar way a rich young man who is looking for the secret of life is told by Jesus, “There is one thing that you lack”. The Apostle Paul tells the church at Philippi that there is “one thing” that he does: he presses on towards the goal that Jesus has revealed to him.

In City Slickers Billy Crystal finds that the “one thing” is different for everyone. It may be the same for us living outside of the silver screen. The Bible suggests that whatever the “one thing” we need turns out to be it will be found in turning our attention to God, listening to the words of Jesus and pursue his goals for our lives.

> Malc Halliday is a retired Baptist Minister - weekendthought@aol.com