Careful where you end up
I’ve had a situation recently where I thought I was entering a sanctuary — a place of peace, healing, and connection — in reality, it turned out to be a glorified work camp. The experience was enlightening, in a dark kind of way.
I really love the idea of a sanctuary, a refuge from the insanity of our modern capitalist world. There are all kinds of sanctuaries. Some are totally natural, an others maybe following a specific spiritual path. Either way, it’s nice to have a place that’s far removed from employment, technology, and the rat race. There is something about just being with natural rhythms that is better
Sanctuary is a place set apart as a refuge of safety, peace, and renewal. At its root, the word means “sacred space”– originally the innermost part of a temple where one could encounter the divine, and later a place where people could seek shelter and protection..
One of my favorites is Garths Boulder Gardens, near Joshua Tree in Landers, California. It’s 640 acres — an entire square mile — of desert boulders, caves, and gardens. People have lived there in a relatively free and creative way for decades. I spent a year there myself, so I know it well.
Garth would occasionally say that if people could put in a couple of hours of work a day, that would be enough to take care of the place, but he would never really ask people directly to work. He would always leave it as a possibility or suggestion. Many visitors didn’t contribute much at all, but others worked out of self-motivation, planting gardens, building new spaces, cooking meals, or caring for others. My own contribution was to build one new cob structure every month. Over twelve months I finished twelve projects — my favorites being the Frog Oven and the Boulder Cave, both of which were used often for years afterward. Other residents had their own projects too — gardens, caregiving, cooking, smoothie-making, whatever!
Boulder Gardens is pretty remote, but people worldwide came to visit, sometimes a day, sometimes a week, and sometimes a year (as in my case). The fridges were usually full and “free game” because short-term visitors would leave behind so much food, so there was always something to eat for the seven to ten of us long term residents. Days were magical. I remember early-morning coffee and movie nights with Garth, who gave the place its soul. Garth has since passed on, but my understanding is that the mission has been to keep things as close as possible to the way he intended.
Frog Oven
So Boulder Gardens is a true sanctuary. because of the voluntary contributions and minimal obligations, it truly a unique kind of place. It honors creative energy, not forced labor. A place where people can rest, heal, and also express themselves.
But there’s a darker side. There are other places that call themselves sanctuaries but operate more like work camps. In those places you’re not really invited to rest or heal — you’re expected to put in hours of unpaid labor. The work is often presented as necessary and critical, but in reality it’s a shift away from the true spirit of sanctuary and into productivity.
I was at one of these “sanctuaries” recently, traveling there about five times in total over a couple of months. It was an absolutely beautiful location, and one of the most remote places I’ve ever been. While there, I helped out a lot. My partner and I completely cleaned out one house, then a second as well. We scrubbed and sterilized kitchens and bathrooms full of rat droppings. We moved mulch and put protective cages around trees. A front door was repaired here, a wall repaired there. Chickens were fed, goats were milked, gardens were watered — plus hours of travel time, the cost of gasoline, and even spare tires. We jumped to every request made of us.
But it wasn’t for me. The vibe of the place was made crystal clear when I got an email today saying (and these are the property owner’s actual words):
“I am a laborer on this land and anyone else that comes out here also has to wear that hat as well. This is get-your-hands-dirty hard work…. This is not going to be a good fit for you.”
So basically, if you go there you are not a guest — you’re expected to take on the same physical burdens as the landholder. Infrastructure projects are the focus. There is no invitation into silence, spirit, or rest, only into labor. Interestingly, this landlord has a PhD in Theology.
Finally, in the process of helping, I injured myself badly enough to need six stitches in my knee. And then that email came today, which quite literally added insult to injury.
A while back I read Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. Written in the 1990s, it imagined what California might be like in 2025, (now!) I actually wish I had never read the book because it is such a depressing novel. People were just evil. Work camps were the norm, resembling the Russian gulags. People were dying left and right, and others were enslaved with electronic collars they couldn’t remove, collars that would shock them into submission. A Trump-like figure was fanning the flames of Christian extremism.
In the midst of it all, the protagonist, Lauren Olamina, is trying to create a spiritual philosophy called Earthseed. Its central belief is “God is Change.” Out of this vision, she and her followers eventually establish a community on farmland in Northern California — a sanctuary among the collapse of a moral society, one that she hopes will carry humanity to the stars, and beyond.
I identify with her because I, along with quite a few others I know, am also trying to create sanctuary in the midst of all this chaos. I think this is what people mean when they say “this is a spiritual war against good and evil”. Though we are not in complete social collapse yet, I do see the declining trend here. I think it take maybe another generation. But Butler has positive words also, which echo across time:
“Kindness eases Change. Love quiets fear.” — Parable of the Talents
The heart of sanctuary isn’t labor camps or forced productivity, but kindness, love, and the space to rest and grow. I think it’s a vision worth holding onto, even in a world that often pushes the opposite.
https://bookwyrm.social/book/175137/s/octavia-e-butlers-parable-of-the-sower
#OctaviaButler #ParableOfTheSower #Earthseed #SpiritualGrowth #Sanctuary #WorkCamp #EcoSpirituality #SpiritualRefuge #IntentionalCommunity #AlternativeLiving #BoulderGardens
https://redecker.vivaldi.net/2025/09/25/spiritual-sanctuary-or-spiritual-work-camp/
#Sanctuary #AlternativeLiving #bouldergardens #Earthseed #EcoSpirituality #garthsbouldergardens #IntentionalCommunity #JoshuaTree #OctaviaButler #ParableOfTheSower #SpiritualGrowth #spirituality #SpiritualRefuge #spiritualretreat #WorkCamp
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