One day one of the younger brothers was caught in fornication. The elders gathered to judge him and expel him from the community. But Abba Moses did not come. The elders sent for him, insisting that he come. Finally, the old man did come, carrying on his back a large basket of sand in which he had poked a hole. The sand trailed behind him. "Should I come and sit in judgment on a brother when my own sins trail behind me?"
— M. Basil Pennington, Listening: God's Word for Today