No man profits from regarding a sore that is not his own;
He ought to care for his own, and imitate the wise.
No man profits from thinking on his virtues;
He rather ought utterly to forget any that have been performed, As it is written, "Forgetting those things which are behind, I reach forth unto those things which are before in the works of virtue.’ (Philippians 3:12-14)
If I have done any good thing, it was done yesterday;
As for now, I press forward to do another, if I can.
I forget yesterday’s good work with yesterday,
For if I think thereon, I will cease from doing good.
Whatever good I might have done, I set behind me,
To press forward to another good before me.
Let yesterday’s good be kept with yesterday’s life;
As for me, I live today; let every day have its due,
As the sun also forgets and casts aside such seasons as are past,
And hastens after those before, to overtake them.
Were the sun to stand still, to reckon yesterday’s course,
The days would cease from moving forward.
Day by day he casts behind him the courses that have passed,
And as a striver, seeks to run to those before him.
Mar Jacob of Serugh
