“Gam zeh ya’avor” This too shall pass.

Any crisis tends to bring out the best in some people. However, conversely, in some people it brings out the worse and worse is when you steal things from a medical facility. Like all hospitals our hospital has a bottle of hand sanitizer at the end of each bed. The nurse or doctor makes use of this when they move from patient to patient. Visitors may also make use of it. There are  hand sanitizing stations at the end of each corridor and at the entrance/exit to the hospital. Why all this information? Well I am certain you know where I am going with this – people have been stealing the bottles, not just from the corridors but from the patient’s beds. One of our ladies  in church has a small dog she takes  to visit the elderly in the nursing homes. She kept a bottle of hand sanitize to uses in here visit to the different patients. She also lets people use it if they have been petting the dog, her bottle was stolen when she was distracted.  In the news this morning there are reports of a busload of people travelling several hours to a country town  outside of Melbourne and stripping the local supermarket. We are not in lockdown but if this continues we should be.

I have just been watching a National Broadcast by the Prime Minister in which he outlined some of the measures that the National Cabinet  have taken overnight and he was quite adamant that schools should not close. The best medical advice available is that the closure of schools would cause more harm than good and  apart from which the virus seems to act differently with young people than it does with adults. He also  pointedly attacked the whole process of panic buying that is happening as stupid and completely unnecessary – we have sufficient stocks of food and we have the ability to manufacture most of what we need. The pointless panic buying of stocks of toilet paper needs to stop – it is unnecessary.   I mean only last week there was a fight in a Woolworth Supermarket over rolls of toilet paper and security were forced to deal with it. It has reached the stage that people are stealing rolls of toilet paper and hand sanitizer from hospital toilets . I think, really, it’s sort of legal looting.                What is the “National Cabinet”?  The Premiers of the other states, the two Chief Ministers of the Territories and the Prime Minister meet twice a week to formulate a National Response for all Australia, not a piecemeal State by State response. We are all in this together and the States, Territories and the Federal Government need to work together as one. Great exercise in unity. I hope it lasts.

A few days ago the Catholic Church here in South Australia suspended their Easter Services and their Mass in response to the Virus. This morning the Presbyterian Church has suspended services for the moment. This also to include all meetings of boards of Committees. I guess the Congregational AGM, which was due this coming Sunday,  will not now take place. The General Assembly Emergency Meeting  will  keep us up to date by daily emails as the situation develops. This afternoon will be spent sending out emails to those of our congregation who have  them and telephoning those who do not. Also this morning was an email and letter from the CEO of the RFDS which has suspended all fundraising activities until at least 31st June.  Annabell  attended the  Ordination Service of the new Pastor  at the Lutheran Church last week and we were thinking that it was good that it was last week whilst there was still some sense of sanity about the place. Oh and by the way, she said the new Pastor is  very young —- Only a boy – were her words  :o)

I have also decided that this might be  the last time I will have Dougal here. Yes he and Benji get on fairly well, but  when I have to go away it means that Annabell has to look after both dogs for two or sometimes four days, depending on where I am going. She is really not able to do that anymore.  As it happens I didn’t have to go away this period but that’s not the point. This time was only  to be for a few days- this coming Monday it will be Five Weeks since he came. There is also the problem when we are out walking. A dog barks and Benji  ignores and walks on. Dougal, on the other hand, goes ballistic and just about pulls my arm off.  But, but, the other day I had had enough, got Benji, put him in the car and he and I drove off to the Wetlands and then the beach It was nice out walking just Benji and me.