Shooting Blanks

On October 12, 1984, during a delay in filming, actor Jon Erik Hexum put a prop revolver to his right temple and pulled the trigger as a joke.   Hexum was apparently unaware that blanks use paper or plastic wadding to seal gun powder into the shell, and that this wadding is propelled from the barrel of the gun with enough force to cause severe injury or death if the weapon is fired within a few inches of the body, especially if pointed at a particularly vulnerable spot, such as the temple or the eye. Although the paper wadding in the blank that Hexum discharged did not penetrate his skull, the wad struck him in the temple with enough blunt force trauma to shatter a quarter-sized piece of his skull and propel the pieces into his brain, causing massive hemorrhaging. Hexum was rushed to Beverly Hills Medical Center, where he underwent five hours of surgery to repair his wounds.  On October 18, six days after the accident, Hexum was declared brain dead.

It is sad and unexpected that a gun firing blanks could cause a young man to lose his life.  Last night Sarah and I were reading the book we are doing for our joint devotions and it talked about the power of words.  Many times we "fire" off hurtful words in teasing or fun and don't think about it.  After all, we don't really mean it.  Maybe it was just a moment of anger instead of fun, but still, we really didn't mean it the way we said it.  A lot of families and people engage in "playful" sarcasm and busting that is seen as harmless.  After all, we are just shooting blanks.  We must remember that like guns, all words have power and should never be used carelessly.  The Bible reminds us to let our yes be yes and our no be no.  Anything else, it says, is sinful.  When we use words but don't want to use their meanings, we are in dangerous territory.  Sometimes even a blank can hit a sensitive area and cause massive damage.  Maybe it was just a joke but why take those kinds of risk.    Let's watch our words, especially in close quarters like our close relationships of spouse, family, friends.  Let's put away the culture or negative jesting and busting.  Someone could get hurt.