My daughter Hannah bought a dvd this week of two Chris Farley films - Tommy Boy and Blacksheep. We watched Tommy Boy last night. I had never seen either of them...I'm not even sure I had heard of Farley before. Anyway, as I watched the film I thought, "Man, this guy is like Belushi." I had also heard he had died at a very young age of a drug overdose. Farley was funny, athletic (*just think how agile he would have been if he had lost 100 pounds and wasn't abusing drugs and alcohol!), and if he was really singing in that one scene (his father's wedding) he also had an excellent voice. Belushi was his hero, and they both died at the tender age of 33. It didn't have to happen like that...and that makes me both angry and sad.
It makes me sad that someone as funny as Farley was also so screwed-up. Why did this guy abuse his body with drugs, alcohol and over-eating? Why did he spend a lot of time with hookers? It makes me doubly sad that he was apparently a strong Catholic, going to mass twice a week, and yet apparently had no clue about how to tap-in to a life-giving relationship with Jesus Christ and find a church that could help him be both a great comedian, and, live a happy, healthy, LONG life. The guy OD'd with a rosary in his hands. (*BTW, I am not slamming Catholics...people who go to churches in my movement [read "denomination"...we're just afraid of saying it] are just as capable of going to church and yet not letting their faith impact each area of their lives.)
Oh God, show us how to live, and, how to invite others into the life You created us for!
(*Here's a Time Magazine article on Farley: http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/05/07/chris.farley/index.html)
