Story: Judging My Neighbor

One of the monks of Scete committed a grave error, and the wisest hermit was called upon to judge him.

The hermit refused, but they insisted so much that in the end he agreed to go.

He arrived carrying on his back a bucket with holes in it, out of which poured sand.

– I have come to judge my neighbor

– said the hermit to the head of the convent.

– My sins are pouring out behind me, like the sand running from this bucket.

But since I don't look back, and pay no attention to my own sins, I was called upon to judge my neighbor!

The monks called a halt to the punishment immediately.