Woody Allen has made some of the greatest movies, from slapstick like "Bananas" and "Sleeper" to urbane comedies like "Manhattan Murder Mystery" and "Small Time Crooks" to provocative dramas like "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and "Annie Hall."

Nevermind his personal life, which has gotten enough negative publicity -- probably some of it accurate and some just wild misstatements. His worst movie, the repulsive "Deconstructing Harry," was made during the depths of his troubles (1997) and for me is unwatchable.
Allen's films are so intriguing to me because of his intelligent humor, his hilarious expressions, great casts, and his propensity to explore eternal issues. I've seen them all and some of them many times.
But a new Newsweek interview shows how heavily his atheism is weighing on his mind.
"At 72, he says he still lies awake at night, terrified of the void," the article says.
And this: "... he knows why he makes movies: not because he has any grand statement to offer, but simply to take his mind off the existential horror of being alive. Movies are a great diversion, he says, 'because it's much more pleasant to be obsessed over how the hero gets out of his predicament than it is over how I get out of mine.'"
This is a man who is not at peace, who has no faith and ultimately no hope.
He says he enjoys life, and I believe it, with his clarinet and his love of New York and Paris and his wife of 11 years Soon-Yi Previn and their 2 adopted children.
I feel sorry for Woody Allen after reading this article. You want people to reconcile their spiritual and physical lives, their eternal and mortal existence. I think this brilliant artist is trying to rationalize the big issues, bring then down to human level and understand them through his intelligence.
That's not how faith works. It takes the faith of a little child.
I once heard a good explanation of faith by Lester Sumrall, an evangelist who is now deceased. He said that to understand faith, think of child standing atop a ledge looking down at his or her parent. Faith is not standing on the edge, it's leaping into a parent's arms, trusting they will catch you.
Woody Allen is standing on the ledge, and, in his view there's nobody there to catch him. Without faith in God, he has nowhere to jump. Sooner or later, however, he's going to get knocked off whether he's ready or not.
Here's hoping -- and praying -- that Woody finds his way to faith. And consequently a peaceful night's sleep without an abject fear of "the void."
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Sylvania, Ohio
Aug. 20, 2008