COMMON FEELINGS

THE French writer and philosopher Voltaire told how Saladin, “the Conqueror of the East”, bequeathed his fortune to the poor, regardless of whether they be Muslim, Christian or otherwise.

His thinking was that we should care less about what people believe and more about what people feel.

Our expectations of the next life might differ. But while we are here, we all feel hunger, satisfaction, fear, comfort, loss, love and so on.

If you want to know whether you should treat a stranger as a brother or sister, ask if they miss anyone, if they love anyone.

If they ever cried at night; if joy makes them laugh.

Then, in sympathy with all the feelings we have in common, understand that we are not so very different after all.