News of acclaimed actor (and personal favorite) Phillip Seymour Hoffman's death from an apparent drug overdose yesterday came as a shock, but not necessarily a surprise, given his public struggle with addiction. PARSE regular Lane Severson emailed this brief reflection to me from an airplane, as he mused on Hoffman's death. It's a good reminder for leaders to not mythologize the death of an artist, and so forget the death of a man. –Paul
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Philip Seymour Hoffman had been found dead in his Manhattan apartment. The cause is still being officially investigated, but sources are reporting a drug overdose—some witnesses saying that there was still a needle in his arm when he was found. Hoffman struggled with chemical addiction.
Conversations about celebrity death have not always gone well in the Church. It is easy for us to see the 'wages of sin is death' come literally true in events like this. For example, when David Foster Wallace committed suicide several years ago (while working on The Pale King), it was too easy, especially given Wallace's thoughts on destructive success and the quest for perfection in his novel Infinite Jest and his famous commencement address to Kenyon College, to picture an artist who worshiped his own success so much that he would rather die than face the possibility of producing a book that was less than perfect. But reducing Wallace to merely a "tortured genius" ignores the serious instability and danger that people with mental illness and suicidal tendencies live with. While it's easy to use Wallace's story as a cautionary illustration against idolatry of the heart, it misses the deeper ministerial point.
Most of us have not yet written sermons or articles reflecting on the passing of Phillip Seymour Hoffman. But I hope that as we do we can remember that addiction, like depression or other mental illness, can be a lion at the gate that devours the weak. How can our communities support those who are afflicted beyond their ability to withstand the dark temptations of substance abuse or suicide? How do we build communities of strength where we help each other fight the demons that plague?
How can our communities support those who are afflicted beyond their ability to withstand the dark temptations of substance abuse or suicide?
Part of the answer is certainly to name sin for what it is. But too often we see sin and virtue as entirely choices we make and we forget that all of us are "prone to wander," as the hymnist writes. What do we do those of us who are strong do to help shepherd wandering hearts? How can we save the Philip Seymour Hoffmans in our pews?
How can we save the Phillip Seymour Hoffmans in our pulpits?
These are questions we should be praying over as we grieve the death of a man who was a truly gifted artist. I hope that Hoffman's sad, untimely death can be an opportunity to speak truthfully about issues like addiction, suicide, and depression.
Lane Severson blogs for On Pop Theology and PARSE. He likes charismatic liturgy and listening to Kanye West or Jay Z with his wife and five children. Lane can be found at about.me/lseverson or on twitter @_lxnx
