Every corner

I know it's a cliché, but everybody and every corner of our world is being touched by COVID-19.

Terrigal dawn this morning (courtesy Julie)

My sister holds a senior position within one of the major Christian denominations, with management and budget responsibilities.  Not only has the income from religious services and facilities been heavily impacted by COVID-19, but the income from the investments on which they rely has also been hit.  Yet, most of their expenses, including salaries (which are already relatively low), still need to be met.

Wamberal this morning (courtesy Julie)

Before COVID-19, the mainstream religious denominations were already facing challenges.  Congregations are ageing and dwindling, fewer people are seeking to join the clergy, and they are finding it hard to dispose of unused and little-used property for a variety of reasons.  It's not hard to imagine that radical solutions and restructuring will now be needed to survive.

Terrigal Lagoon this morning (courtesy Julie)

Fortunately, late last week, the Australian government extended the Jobkeeper program, which provides $750 per week per employee to organisations to keep their employees on the payroll, to religious practitioners along with some other organisations who had missed out under the previous eligibility definitions.  Ultimately, this may only prove to be a band-aid for religious denominations, but at least it will ease some of the short-term pressures while they work out a plan for the medium- to long-term.

Yesterday, I Googled some stretches and exercises designed to deal with hip issues and experimented with a few.  One, which involved squatting, left me with a sore knee for the rest of the day (but fortunately it had recovered by this morning).  Others were less aggressive and I added them to my pre-run routine this morning.  Unless they cause me new problems and I have to stop, I'm sure it will take a few weeks to determine whether they make any difference.  For this morning's 6km run, I took it very easy, and although there was some pain and discomfort, it was tolerable.