What is my life but yesterday, fleeting
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III speaks about time from a spiritual perspective, showing that human life on earth is nothing but fleeting, passing moments. He poetically says: “My life is nothing but a passing yesterday; all of it is yesterday, even if it seems long.” Every day that passes becomes “yesterday,” and tomorrow, when it comes, will in turn become another “yesterday.” Thus, life itself is a chain of vanishing yesterdays.
🔹 Main Idea:
Earthly life is short and transient; everything in it passes quickly like a yesterday that will never return. Therefore, we must live it in repentance and readiness for eternity.
🔹 Reflection on Time:
His Holiness presents a wise view of time as a constant flow that cannot be grasped. Today does not last, tomorrow is not guaranteed, and all we live quickly becomes the unchangeable past.
🔹 Spiritual Meaning:
Through this vision, Pope Shenouda calls us to focus on what is eternal and imperishable—our relationship with God—because no matter how long life may seem, it is brief compared to eternity.
🔹 Faith Message:
True wisdom is to live every day as if it were our last on earth, in purity and continual readiness to meet God, for our entire life is but a fleeting “yesterday” before eternal glory.
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