Gifts of Peace and Joy at Christmas

Christmas greetings to our Trinity family!

In so many ways, the year 2024 posed challenges, brought disappointments and even sorrow.  But with Christmas 2024 upon us, as well as the Hanukkah season for our Jewish friends, let’s take time to count our blessings as well, to celebrate the successes we realized and to cherish friends and family.  This is a season for expressing gratitude, for giving gifts that bring joy and laughter to our relationships, that enliven the darkest days of winter with sparkling lights and cheerful songs.   Christians celebrate the birth of Christ with beautiful liturgies and festive gatherings, lifting up the virtue of Hope once more to a world often weary of crises and conflict.

Let us have Hope that we can find more peace, more joy, more unity in 2025!

As is my habit during the year, whenever I can find a few hours to get away, I go to one of my favorite wildlife refuges to spend some time in nature and enjoy the company of the “wild things” all around us.  As my Christmas gift to the Trinity community, here’s a short (under 3 minutes!) video of the lovely critters I was able to capture with my camera this year… Enjoy!

I urge you to treat yourself to some time in nature.  The refuges I like the most are the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge near Dover, Delaware, and the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge, Maryland.  (An added attraction if you visit Blackwater is the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitors Center next to the refuge.) The Patuxent National Research Refuge is not far away and offers lovely forest trails and a small lake.  Or just go to your favorite spot along the Potomac or Anacostia Rivers, or the Chesapeake Bay, and look for the wild things!!