THIRTEEN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING (2001)

Directed by: Jill Sprecher
Written by: Karen Sprecher, Jill Sprecher
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Alan Arkin, John Turturro
Rated: R

About the film:
The “one thing” referred to in the title is happiness. More importantly, the question the film asks is “how does one achieve happiness in life?” In Thirteen Conversations we look at a number of people who are trying to answer that same question.

Movie Quote:
“Luck is the lazy man’s excuse.”
Troy (Matthew McConaughey) in Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001)

Bible Quote:
“But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.”
James 1:25 (NIV)

Commentary:
Luck, fate, karma… They are all concepts created by man to try to explain why things happen the way they happen. Those who put their trust in such things are bound to be disappointed because they fail to see that God, when He created the universe, designed it purposefully. It functions by a set of laws and standards.

Whenever I think about “luck,” I remember the words of Thomas Jefferson who purported said, “I’m a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”

To believe in luck is “a lazy man’s excuse” because it relinquishes us of responsibility. It indicates a belief that no action on our part will change what “luck” will bring us. This is about as non-scriptural a mindset that we could have.

God did not establish a “law of luck.” He did establish the “law of believing.” As we believe according to His will and take actions that are aligned with our believing, He promises that we shall receive that which we desire.

God does not want us to be lucky… He only wants us to be blessed.

Questions to consider while watching the film:
1. Where does “bad luck” come from? How can it be avoided?
2. Of the characters in the film, which ones demonstrate the most positive characteristics that we would want to emulate in our lives? Why?

Michael Elliott
www.screensermon.blogspot.com