What is the value of a life?

Killings, shootings, stabbings, bombings, tornadoes, hurricanes. The list goes on and on. Every time I check the news I hear about another death.

Just today:

"9 people killed, 36 wounded in Iraq's violence"

"Chicago man charged in slaying of 6-month-old girl"

"Man shoots daughters with 3 grandkids in home"

And on, and on. Every day.

Death is a part of life. But ultimately a person should die at a ripe old age at home in bed surrounded by family, having accomplished all they could in their lifetime. Not killed because of someone else's act of terror.

Unfortunately, it is so easy to become desensitized when you hear about death tolls every day. It is hard to cry or feel sad every time you hear of someone who was killed.

So it comes down to how much did that person mean to you, if at all, and how much does it affect you? Will you miss them? Did you even know them? Will it make any difference in your life now that they are gone?

If you feel nothing, does that mean you don't value life?

Can you really put a value on a life?

As time goes on you become more and more numb to the pain and emotion. Death becomes another topic of current events to sigh over, and then change the channel. You don't want to hear about it, you don't want it to ruin your day. So you think how sad that is, and maybe somewhere someone is mourning the death of a loved one, but how could it possibly affect you.

Until one day you feel nothing at all.

Or has that already happened?