A portion of this piece first appeared in the Fall/Winter 2026 issue of The Friedensword. The full reflection follows and serves as Gwen’s “farewell” to the Peaceful Woods. 

The mops flew back and forth across the dining hall floor, removing the lingering signs of outdoor adventure from the weekend church groups as we prepared for 5th grade school children who would arrive the next day for Outdoor Education. Our weekly “Dance of the Dining Hall Flip” was well underway when I realized that I was perfectly in sync with Alena, our 20-something Sustainability Assistant. Mere seconds passed before we both noticed that Jonathan had joined us in our synchronized mopping: a trio of mops, side by side from the lake-side to the kitchen-side, back and forth and back and forth. 

We laughed at the delight of this holy synchronicity—synchronicity because we had found a collective rhythm, holy because the work of Camp Friedenswald is sacred work wherein a small group of people, supported by a larger group of volunteers and supporters and campers and summer staff, join together to create something that is well beyond the sum of its parts*. It is holy because what is created at Camp Friedenswald is an embodiment of the gifts of the Holy, showing up over and over again, season after season, year after year. 

For the past two years I have had a front seat enabling me to bear witness to these life-affirming gifts. They’ve emerged almost like a liturgical “daily office” of a Benedictine monastery wherein the flow of ora et labora—prayer and work—marks the hours of the day with regular return to the attention of the Holy. 

For me the Camp Friedenswald “daily office,” though varying through the seasons, has gone something like this:

1. THE GIFT OF GROUNDING  6am – Wake to the singing of the birds. In the summer the American Robin sings first, followed close behind by the Northern Cardinal and the small but vocal Caroline Wren. I could set my clock by their morning chorus, ushering in a new day. With coffee in hand I venture out to the deck to sit in the presence of the winged singers and the scurrying squirrels and all the waking life. I soak in the sounds of silence that are really not silent at all, but full of new life as the day begins.

1. THE GIFT OF SERVICE  8am – Join with others to share together, make plans, sing, support one another, clean together, do the “Dance of the Dining Hall Flip” with joyful delight (especially when Jess has control of the musical playlist)! I mop with joyful reverence and rejoice in the clean dining hall floor.

1. THE GIFT OF PRAYER  10am – Pause while walking across camp to give heed to the call to prayer, ushered by the cry of the sandhill crane, soaring high above the world as we know it, drawing my attention upward. I’m mindful of the cries of those suffering in these days of war, climate catastrophe, and strife. I stop in my tracks and take a deep, prayerful breath.

1. THE GIFT OF COMMUNITY  12:30pm – Gather with gratitude to enjoy food prepared with love for the gathered community. I linger at the table, sharing stories of encounters with other inhabitants of the peaceful woods with an ever—changing intergenerational community joined together in this hospitable, holy work.

1. THE GIFT OF WORK  1:30pm –  Work creativity together. Brainstorm and problem solve, laugh, cry and celebrate accomplishments, as we each contribute our unique offerings to the tasks of hospitality and sustainability. I am inspired by what emerges. 

1. THE GIFT OF SOLITUDE  6pm – Walk among wise tree friends at the end of the day, soaking in the goodness and the wisdom of the tree elders who have seen so much over the years and who grace this sacred space with a deep sense of presence. I am humbled.

1. THE GIFT OF SONG  8pm – Sing together, joining voices with the voices of the other-than-human world. In the fall, it’s the crickets whose pitch mysteriously matches our own as we join in song together. I add my voice to the mix, listening closely to the mystery.

1. THE GIFT OF BLESSING  9pm – Receive a blessing of the golden leaves that fall with abandon into the circle of whoever is gathered in Mosquito Hollow as the fire burns low and the wonder of the moment moves us to silence and awe and, eventually, laughter. I receive this unique encounter with the Holy with delighted gratitude.

1. The GIFT OF REST  10pm – Fall into deep sleep as the choir of crickets and cicadas and peepers form a choir that ushers in the night; a choir that gathers outside my window each night in a multi-voiced performance adding sacred sound to the sacred silence of the night sky. I drift into sleep, dreaming of peace.

I have had the good fortune of living into this “daily office” inspired by the gifts of this place over the past two years. And I will forever be grateful for the many and varied ways the gifts of the peaceful woods have shaped me into one who has welcomed the invitation to see the Holy everywhere. 

*With deep and lasting gratitude to those with whom I have shared life and work over the past two years. GGZ