"One day, late in October, as the friar walked with Robin along the side of the hill leading down to the river, D'Ath following, Robin stepped in the path.
'Think you it is really helping my legs to swim?' he asked anxiously, 'I cannot straighten my back, and can walk only as before, halfway bent over. What think you, Brother Luke, shall I ever straighten?'
'I know not what to think about that.' Brother Luke sighed. Then he lifted his head and said firmly, 'God alone knows whether thou'lt straighten or no. I know not. But this I tell thee. A fine and beautiful life lies before thee, because thou hast a lively mind and a good wit. Thine arms are very strong and sturdy. Swimming hath helped to make them so, but only because thou hast had the will to do it. Fret not, my son. None of us is perfect. It is better to have crooked legs than a crooked spirit. We can only do the best we can with what we have. That, after all, is the measure of success: what we do with what we have. Come, let us go on.'"
What beautiful things are you finding in your reading this winter?
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