[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]As it has been revealed through the social media tsunami, Hollywood and Broadway actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was pronounced dead yesterday. The death was ruled by police to be caused by a heroin overdose. By Hollywood standards, Hoffman was a brilliant and prolific actor, he died while filming the last installment of the Hunger Games series. On Broadway he was held in just as high regards. His last theatrical performance was Death of a Salesman.

Truly sad. Sad that a human life came to end. Sad that there are children now fatherless. Sad that life was loss because of addiction to a substance that is only brought on by selfish desires and intentions. Sad that media and the Hollywood machine doesn’t call it for what it is.

As I poured through various articles on Hoffman, time and time again the articles written spoke of how he was one of the greatest actors of our time. They spoke of how much of a genuine and nice person he was. Yet, time and time again they did not hit the subject of substance abuse and the destruction it brings. They have the perfect platform to make a call to action, and yet it continues to gets swept under the carpet. With society’s idolization and celebrity worship, what an incredible opportunity for fellow actors, directors, producers, to take the time and really create something that shows the destructive nature of drug and alcohol abuse. Are not actors in some sense a salesman? Are they not selling society ideas, philosophies, and products? They are some of the most successful salesman on the face of the planet. And yet…

Silence rings out.

More and more of these tragic losses of life will take place as long as society keeps straying from God’s path. As long secularism and the postmodern thought of the relativity between right and wrong are broadcast over the airwaves, people will continue to be lost to temptations and the perverse trappings of sin. Many more children will go fatherless. Many more mothers will lose their sons and daughters.

“For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.” Proverbs 2:7-9

The death of this actor truly is a tragic event. It should sadden all of us at the loss of life. God desires life for His children. No matter how death happens, His heart breaks. “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

Let’s be the voice of hope to a dying world. Today is our chance to reflect God’s true character, a character of Love.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]