Meditations in Simplicity 5 - Empathy

Today, I find difficulty meditating on simplicity and the joy therein for my heart is heavy from the unspeakable tragedy in Tuscon, Arizona where a congresswomen was shot, a judge fatally wounded, and others were gunned down, senselessly. I find myself asking how joy and tragedy can coexist within you and wondering of the nature of emotion, if emotions just take turns being forefront in your conscious, or if somehow you feel everything at all times. I'm not quite sure of these answers, but I find comfort when I hear seemingly unconnected people say things like 'my heart goes out' or 'I'm just grief stricken' I'm reminded of the true empathetic nature of humankind. A heart going out is a heart shared, when someone else's heart is shattered. Our true nature is of empathy, and even though sadness breaks us, we know that never do we suffer alone. Nor do we conversely rejoice alone. Always, we are connected to each other and tragedies of this magnitude dissolve our illusions of race, political persuasion, gender, orientation to reveal a oneness that is definitive of our essence.