by Delores Topliff, @DeloresTopliff
Sheltering in place can feel like limbo–how long will it last? What’s the calendar expiration date? Writing block also keeps us stuck in sameness. How can we break through? By sticking with the old like practicing piano scales until we give polished performances and then write our own compositions.
We get from where we are to new destinations by putting one foot in front of the other. Soon, when we look around, we are in a different place. We are further with fresh scenes to enjoy. We may not have reached our final destination, but we’ve made progress.
I have an inspiring pastor friend. At age 40, a motorcycle accident made Steve Ruetschle a quadriplegic. But he and his family didn’t accept that. With dogged determination, he pushed back. Now, he has movement but no feeling, walks short distances, and lives and preaches heart-stirring sermons. He practices minute prayers to maintain peace. He inhales the Lord’s word, “Peace” and exhales, “Be still” on waking and at other times during the day. The Lord may give you other words, but minute prayers work. Maintaining peace is as simple as breathing. And breathing is essential to life.
I’ve been in Jerusalem’s Garden tomb. I’ve seen the extra space hollowed out for a man of taller than average height. Stillness and darkness ruled there for three days. Guards stood outside maintaining sameness. Except they failed. Darkness cannot stop light. Sameness must yield to life. Keep breathing. Keep repeating the same acts in faith, minute after minute, day after day. That process produces new life with fresh insights and accomplishments.
Digging deep while staying in the writer’s chair will produce more words, even if some have to be edited. With God’s help, many will also be keepers..
Piano scales do not sound like the polished recital pieces they produce, but they get us there.
Whether you’re quarantined by pandemic restrictions or writers block, this too shall pass. And we’ll be wiser, stronger, more accomplished, and thankful for the lessons gleaned while achieving enduring results.
The desire of a boy’s heart is answered — then he learns to give his answer away. And in the process, he grows more into a man.
Visit Delores and her blog posts and Books and CD page at delorestopliff.com. Find and like her Facebook Author page at Delores Topliff Books.
Her beautifully illustrated children’s books include Whoosh a true story, Woodsy, the Wonder Bear, and two rhymed children’s adventures, Little Big Chief: The Bear Hunt and Little Chief and Ogopogo (based on an often-observed North American deep-lake creature like the Loch Ness monster). Order signed copies by emailing Delores@delorestopliff.com any time.
Her true stories appear in Revell, Bethany House, and Guideposts compilation books. Her agent, Julie Gwinn of the Seymour Agency, is marketing two historic novels while Delores completes a true travelogue proving it’s possible to have fun and travel safely even in grandma years. In fact, travel is Delores’s favorite form of learning.