I received an email this week that contained a tweet by @martinkl. The tweet read, “In 1665, the University of Cambridge temporarily closed due to the bubonic plague. Isaac Newton had to work from home, and he used this time to develop calculus and the theory of gravity.” Wow! That is a truly productive use of a quarantine.
There is little in the news this weekend other than the coronavirus threat. Like many others, I have sought to protect myself by avoiding crowds and spent most of the weekend in self-imposed quarantine. I do not have any reason to believe that I have been exposed to the virus, nor do I have any of the serious underlying health conditions that would make me an ideal candidate for catching the disease. But I am in my 60’s and I feel no reason to take unnecessary risks.
The quiet weekend left me with time to reflect and time to write. I have been ‘stuck’ in writing a novel for several years, so much so that I laid it aside. Last week I picked it back up and continued to struggle with how to move the story forward. Tonight I had a break through. Some people would call this a burst of creativity. I believe that I heard from God. After I prayed for guidance, I quietly waited and the Lord revealed His plan for this particularly novel. In just a few moments, the story line became clear. Don’t misunderstand me. It won’t be easy. I have lots of work to do, which will involve a major editing and rewriting of the work I had done. But, I can see where this story will go now, and it is much better than the story I had intended to write.
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I read a blog recently in which the author theorized that creativity blossoms in extended periods of quiet. He encouraged people to block out 3 – 4 hours of interrupted time daily to do creative work. I concur totally. When I have uninterrupted periods of a few hours or more in which to write, I am more creative and productive than when I try to write in shorter blocks of time. I believe that the blog author had discovered a Biblical principal. God speaks to us when we are still and quite. Psalm 46:10 admonishes us to ‘Be still, and know that I am God.” In 1 Kings 19 Elijah seeks a revelation of the Lord, and the Lord appears to him as a gentle whisper.
Whether you go about life semi-normally for the next few weeks or you practice social distance and self-quarantining, I hope that you will take some extended time to be still and quiet. You may find that this will be on of the greatest periods of creativity in your life.
Susan's Reflections 
Can’t wait for the new novel. I have loved the others.