I am writing this blog the day after the second Fort Hood Shooting – 4/3/14. As expected all news outlets are reporting on the tragic event. Any loss of life is tragic. Therefore, we mourn the death of those killed and pray for those who were injured.

Mass shootings are not new to society, but they do seem to be much more frequent and much more deadly. Sandy Hook and the Aurora Colorado movie theatre are two of the most recent. The bombing at last year's Boston Marathon can also be included even though it was not a shooting.

There have been many other mass shootings in recent years. Some, I don't remember seeing in the news as much as others. One in particular received little notice. In fact, I have yet to mention the shooting to anyone who remembers the 2009 shooting in a nursing home in Carthage, NC. A lone gunman killed eight elderly residents and a nurse.

If my research is correct there has never been a shooting in a nursing home so deadly. According to figures available as of this writing, four were killed in Fort Hood yesterday. If, as I believe, any loss of life is tragic... then why did the killings of one nurse and eight infirm seniors receive such little attention? Please don't rollover that question too quickly. Why did the killings of one nurse and eight infirm seniors receive such little attention?

May God's grace and peace rest on all those affected by yesterday's shooting and the many others in recent years. May we learn to treat life as a precious gift, regardless of age.

Stan Means
Elder Source Senior Ministries