Was it Jack Palance telling Billy Crystal in City Slickers that “one thing, just one thing” is the key to life? Or am I thinking about Jesus telling Martha “[only] one thing is necessary” (Luke 10:42)? In any case, paring our lives, our attention, our “stuff” down a singular focus sounds like a heroic aspiration, a utopian and godly ideal in a noisy world. It sounds great, like heaven.
But it also sounds like hell—unchanging routine, uniformity, ceaseless sameness. “One thing” can sound like the light of the sun, rising each morning to warm and light the earth, day after day after day. “One thing” can also sound like a gray, colorless bore. A drone.
When we got pitched an article on drone music and drone aircraft in the same week, I jumped at the chance for a theme issue. (Moody’s 1962 film City of Bees has been an inspiration for The Behemoth since our initial planning meetings, so we didn’t have to think hard about what our third article would be.) I loved the prospect of diving deeply into a topic literally synonymous with monotony. For one thing, The Behemoth is passionate about finding awe and wonder in places that can seem boring or uninspiring. More to the point, our editorial vision is to serve as a counterpoint to your news stream. Yes, there was tragedy on the streets last night. And terror abroad. And disturbing political developments. But that’s not all that happened yesterday. Babies were born. Hearts kept beating. Sun, moon, and stars kept their courses above. God poured out his mercies. Heavens declared his glory. It’ll happen again tomorrow. Beautiful, majestic monotony. Many, many things, ultimately about “one thing, just one thing.”
