A Pilgrimage, Journey Of The Heart: Examining 'The Why' Of Life With Chris Barbera

In a Post-Pandemic June 2022, Joel and Chris sat together at Network of Religous Communities in Buffalo, New York and examined and reflected on Chris' travels to Seattle and San Fransisco via train, a pilgrimage.

Chris discusses his recent trip and the lessons, resolutions, and insights from his travels to the west coast, focusing on the spiritual aspects.

The conversation tends toward defining 'Pilgrimage' as setting an intention of questions and seeing what happens or unravels with the experience as an answer or response to the questions and intention. 

After graduation from college, his path opened to extended compassion to the marginalized, the poor, and after college Chris entered into another phase of life, he lived in solidarity with people who were homeless, practicing presence and 'present-ness' with these communities.

Chris cites in his life the transformation from service to devotion: born into a challenging family, his compassion for others was cultivated, later manifesting into activism with the homeless communities and prisoners and inmates, seeking to address the Prison System.

Chris intentionally placed himself in the heart of suffering as an act of mercy to fulfill an aspect of his understanding of spirituality, and this helped him bridge his own suffering into compassion for others in community who are marginalized and suffer.

Chris was inspired reading the Buddhist Sutras and the New Testament, influenced by Buddha and Jesus.

Chris' understanding of activism and advocacy lends itself to cultivating and amplifying voices of the marginalized. 

Chris shares he has been working with Jesus the Liberatory Seminary for over a decade, utilizing creativity and theology to amplify voices.

Prisoners share writings though Jesus the Liberator Seminary of Religous Justice, which has three books published:

• Prison Theology (Published, 2013)
• Dreamers, Romans and Prisons: Meditations on Crime, Illness, Healing and Liberation (Published, 2015)
• More to this Confession: Relational Prison Theology (Published, 2020)
  
  

Chris found that communal living developed skill building toward activism, repair, and restoration. 

Chris talks about the 'why' of his activism, work, and devotion; the 'why' of activism identified by Chris is 'the general compassion for others, that is the 'why' of activism.'

This general compassion for people ties into activism and his pilgramages: 

• helps Chris in addressing suffering
• 'pilgrimages' uncover how and why one acts the way they do 
• Chris reflects on his initial pilgrimage, the Tenderloin District in San Fransisco  
• Chris took an early pilgramage to Wounded Knee (i.e., 1890 Massacre), also reflecting on Sitting Bull and Black Elk

Chris reads from his writings.

The discussion turns to The Ten (10) Ox Herding Dipictions and the Marketplace as the last of the Ten (10) Dipictions.

The conversation opens to a quotation shared by Roshi Philip Kapleau:

• 'life is not a riddle to be solved, but a reality to be lived.'

Many struggle with 'The Why?' of Life, the talk outlines 'the why' is for the Divine and 'the how' is for people to respond to Life's complexities.

 

 Biography of Chris Barbera:

Chris Barbera has lived in the backs of empty churches and intentional communities and worked on various social justice movements and has, for many years, administered an educational nonprofit, Jesus the Liberator Seminary of Religious Justice, which focuses upon developing a 'Prison Theology' with people incarcerated.

He currently li...