The Bubonic plague broke out in England in 1665.  Cambridge University sent its students home.  Sound familiar? One of those students was Isaac Newton.

Isaac Newton was admitted to Trinity College at Cambridge University in June of 1661.  He  started his master degree and, bang, he has to leave because of the plague.  Waiting out the plague, Newton spent 18 months at Woolsthrope.  In those 18 months Isaac Newton laid the groundwork for some of his greatest works. 

I am thinking about Newton as we enter the phase of “social distancing” with the Covid-19 pandemic.  Did Newton write to his friends, all disbursed from Cambridge?  Today I can call someone on my cell phone, message them on Facebook, send an email, or video chat on Zoom or Skype.   It was pointed out to me on Facebook that we are really not called to practice “social distancing” but physical separation.  Avoiding someone on Facebook will not prevent Covid-19, even if defriending improves mental health.  In Newton’s day physical separation was largely social separation.  Today we are blessed with many ways of staying in touch.  So don’t disappear, stay in touch.

Newton didn’t sit around bemoaning his separation from school.  Newton was productive and engaged, laying the groundwork for what would become his theory gravity, his version of calculus, and his theories of optics. 

Returning  to Cambridge in 1667, Newton receives his master’s degree, is elected a fellow of Trinity College, becomes a professor, and is elected to the Royal society of London, all in about 5 years.  

Can we follow Isaac Newton’s example?  Try and use the time in preparation so that when we emerge from this period, great things can happen.    Unlike Newton’s 18 months away from school,  physical separation doesn’t have to be social separation.  Let’s also pray that our leaders are smart enough to get it over with in a few months, rather than 18 months Newton spent away from school.