{"id":1650,"date":"2023-02-15T15:39:19","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T20:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redchairblogs.wpengine.com\/holymoly\/?p=1650"},"modified":"2023-02-15T15:39:19","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T20:39:19","slug":"the-thing-behind-the-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/2023\/02\/15\/the-thing-behind-the-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Thing Behind the Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was recently speaking to some colleagues on campus about how, in the many conversations I have as a chaplain, there is always more to the story than someone is telling me. There\u2019s a thing behind the thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For instance, I might be having a conversation with someone who may say they are really tired. Yet, as the conversation progresses, I learn the tiredness is not from a lack of sleep, but rather a deep burnout from work or exhaustion from being a young parent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Or, talking with a student, I might learn about their frustration they are experiencing being a student on campus, but as they get more comfortable speaking to me and open up, I learn that their frustration is really because of a recent break up causing so much pain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a thing behind the thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes the thing behind the smile is grief and pain. Sometimes the thing behind the anger is actually a bout of shame. Sometimes behind the outburst is an experience of a great injustice. Sometimes behind the excitement is a lot of anxiety. Sometimes behind our motivation is actually a lot of fear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a heavy thing that is often behind the thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even as I write this, I sense a deep heaviness within me as the death toll from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria (which was at 5,000 when I wrote last week\u2019s Chaplain\u2019s Corner) is now at 36,000. I sense a deep frustration within me as there is yet another shooting at another college campus, and our students reel with emotions as such a tragedy is normalized. I sense a longing to be with my kids as they spent their morning making the cutest Valentine\u2019s Day cards for their sitter, and I love seeing them create.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We all carry more than we let on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As you speak with colleagues and friends today, may you be aware that everyone is carrying a deep and heavy burden; there\u2019s a thing behind the thing. If today you are carrying a deep and heavy burden, may you have the courage to share it with a safe person so you may know that you are not alone. May we all have moments where the thing behind the thing is a deep sense of peace, love, joy, and hope. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was recently speaking to some colleagues on campus about how, in the many conversations I have as a chaplain, there is always more to the story than someone is telling me. There\u2019s a thing behind the thing.\u00a0 For instance, …<\/p>\n

The Thing Behind the Thing<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nathan"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1QIf6-qC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1650\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}