There was one "issue" conspicuously missing at the Image of God Conference. In the presence of so many discussions and presentations about how part of being in the image of God is to beget; with all the talk of contraception, abortion, divorce, illegitimacy, cohabitation, etc. the issue of how to provide pastoral care to those dealing with the issue of miscarriage and stillbirth was noticably absent to me.
Our theology readily confesses that life begins at conception, but in pastoral care, the very reality that God blessed a couple with a child and that child died before the parents could even look upon its face is often not treated as the tragedy that it is. Instead of the grace of God, the couple is often presented with trite phrases:
- "don't worry, you can always have another one."
- "at least you already had two kids."
- "It was God's will."
Or statistics like:
- "25% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, so its bound to happen."
- "they say that first trimester miscarriages happen because the baby was genetically deformed. It's actually merciful."
To hear this from co-workers and neighbors is hard enough, but from those who are in the Body of Christ, and most notably from one's pastor, is something that should not happen. It does not matter that the parents never knew what color their baby's eyes were, what his laugh sounded like, whether he liked cats or ponies, or if he had 10 toes or 12. They lost their child. The beautiful blessing that God provided to them died, and everything in our sinful being screams out that it should NOT happen.
Often, the father's grief goes completely unacknowledged. Neither one of them know what to do with their pain. Sometimes, even they feel bad because they feel more than they think they ought, and definitely they feel more than the world seems to validate should be there, even months or years later.
They need to be met with the acknowledgement that their child died. They truly lost a child just as much as any other couple whose child died at any age. There is no denying that...though mourning may be decidedly different. Help them give a name to their child. Tell them "I'm sorry you lost your baby." Listen, pray with them, just as if the child had been older or if another family member had died....don't give glib statements like what has just been lost is merely the idea of a child. Suggest a memorial service. Confirm the baby's reality. Give them the comfort of the cross...the comfort that God is merciful and that they will see their child in Heaven.
Along with that, our Church seriously needs to address the pain of infertility. Sarah, Rachel and Hannah in the Old Testament; Zachariah and Elizabeth in the New -- their shame and anguish was clear. In his presentation "The Spitting Image of Love" Dr. Jastrum said that marriage is a reflection of the very Trinitarian nature of God....to not be able to beget is a deep and crushing agony for so many, and it often is not minimized even if the couple already has a child. They know the joy that a child brings, and hunger for more -- it is God-pleasing to do so. Adopting is a good thing, but I have never known a couple where it completely erased that pain. It exists on its own despite the love they have for their other children.
The answers that the world offers to infertility are often evil and dehumanizing, yet the anguished souls run to them without direction because they are not encouraged to seek comfort in God's peace.
We talked about the damage created when we deny the first blessing that God gave Adam and Eve as they were united in marriage "Be fruitful and multiply." What about the pain of those who have their desire and drive to fulfill this blessing thwarted? Both of these issues are part of what it means to be under the weight of sin. And those who are suffering from these anguishes, as well as every other tragedy that we confronted this week, need God's comfort.
Technorati tags: miscarriage
infertility
16 comments:
I have a sister, Emily, who was stillborn. It was one of the defining events of my childhood. Thank you for this post drawing attention to this important issue.
A good point. A pastor used the "well, at least you have x number of other children" on me and while true, it wasn't what I needed to hear.
No one ever acknowledged my three events in any way. I was very alone.
I greatly enjoyed you post.
Very good points. My mother-in-law had 3 miscarriages after she had her son (my husband). She told me once how she looks forward to meeting her other children in heaven some day.
When I was pregnant with my daughter, I received a note from an acquaintance congratulating me on my "fetus." I thought that was...odd...to say the least.
I always hated every time I was pregnant, being asked by the doctor if this pregnancy was wanted. With Maggie, I had a doctor who was a "daily mass" Catholic. I called him to let him know while he was away at a conference, and his first reaction was to laugh with joy and wish me congratulations. When the amniotic sack measured too small, and Maggie couldn't even be measured, rather than simply accept that the pregnancy was not viable, as had happened with two previous pregnancies, he immediately increased my salt intake and put me on HCG shots (the salt seemed to be what was important, as the pharmacist screwed up the HCG dosage to the point where I was getting 1/100th of what I was supposed to get). I firmly believe he saved Maggie's life. Since we moved, I think I haven't even searched for an OB/GYN because I have low hopes of finding one like him, and other experiences were too traumatic.
I remember talking about this with folks after Mrs. Vark miscarried and many times since then. It's a regular reminder: I don't know how you're feeling but I do feel for you.
It may not have been discussed at the conference last week, but take a look at the LSB Agenda when your husband gets it. I can't remember if there's a rite in there or not; I'm inclined to think that there is. But I know for sure that there's guidance in there for pastors who are ministering to families grieving over miscarriage. (Oh, wait. Now that I say this in public, watch it turn out that that was something that got axed at the last minute. I don't think it did, though.)
It is one of the great tragedies of the church that we have not learned to deal with the very real grief and loss of miscarriages and stillborns.
As a Pastor, it is often hard because (1) the nature of the thing makes many women (and men) want to keep the gried and loss private, (2) as a man, an event such as that is experienced very different by me than by the mother, and so sympathy can seem trite, and (3) our theology often falls apart and fails at this sort of tragedy.
Like the other commenters, I'm glad you are drawing attention to this issue! Having had two miscarriages myself, I know exactly what you are talking about. I have had people say goofy things to me about my own miscarriages. I've also heard people say even goofier things when other women have miscarried. One remark that a woman made in all sincerity to me when a mutual friend of ours miscarried made me cringe inside.
On the flip side, I think we have to extend some grace to the people who make thoughtless comments. After all, they are usually sincerely trying to help. It's one thing to intellectually know that a child is a person in the image of God from conception. It's another to understand all of the emotional ramifications of an actual miscarriage and to know exactly how to comfort a couple who are grieving the loss of their child. Miscarriage is not the only situation in which people put their feet in their mouth when trying to comfort someone. I'm sure that I've bungled the process of encouraging someone else, myself.
I think once we are past the most emotional stages of grief and have come to peace, we have to gently and lovingly educate people how to support couples who have experienced miscarriage.
One of our local hospitals has a program in which volunteers make pretty handkerchiefs and tie them with a lovely cord and decoration. The hospital personnel give them to women who have had miscarriages or still births. I don't know if something like that would have comforted me or not. But, I am happy to see that the hospital is providing these mothers with acknowledgements of the children's lives.
Before I had my miscarriages, I already had two beautiful children as the result of two healthy pregnancies. My husband and I are deeply grateful for these wonderful children who have become healthy, strong, Christian adults.
Elizabeth
http://elizabeth-themerryrose.blogspot.com
I'm so glad you brought this up. I think part of the problem with the miscarraige grieving process is so many people don't tell of the pregnancy until the 1st trimester has ended. What does this say about how we value the life before that? A deep secret not to be shared just in case the unimaginable happens. Well, the unimaginable does happen as 25% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. So then who is there to share that grief if no one was there to share the initial joy?
And along the thought of Pastors as counselors through such a loss, some are excellent at comforting and fulfilling that role. However, so many do not know what can be done BEYOND words and cards. Most people do not know that funeral homes will do a service, even in first trimester miscarriages (they will bury the fetus, just as they would a small child). While this is a potentially expensive proposition, it is my understanding that many funeral homes try to do it at a reasonable rate to help families. Hospitals and emergency rooms and most OB/GYNs don't even suggest or offer this, but it is done all the time. In fact, I know several hospitals who would not let mothers keep their fetuses after "passing", even though the request was made. Having your Pastor serve as a liason in this area would provide much assistance. He can coordinate with the funeral home and stand up for your rights to the hospital administration. If you are pregnant or plan on becoming pregnant, I urge you to discuss this with your Pastor immediately, sharing your wishes for his involvement. Again, if we treat this like any other death (which it is), our brains can begin to ignore society's ideas of how it should be handled and embrace a more loving approach to such loss.
Here I am, two months down the road, making a comment. I had questions for Pastor today about the Agenda and the Altar Book and the Pastoral Care Companion. He showed me the differences between the books; we talked about which ones were needed for what things (I've got Christmas shopping to do for my husband). He showed me some of the things he was still working on for the Pastoral Care Companion.
THAT's the one that has all the helps for pastors to minister to families. There's a big long "childbirth" section in the Pastoral Care Companion for LSB. It covers the time before birth, after birth, the churching of a mother, miscarriage, stillbirth, infertility, abortion, and all sorts of other situations related to mommyness.
You brought up a good point, Marjorie. A very good point.
After Noah was born, we contacted the funeral home, and they came and got his body, cremated it, and put it in an urn that we had ordered from a website that had resources for miscarriages. The majority of the ashes were probably the hospital blanket. But we still have them in the urn. My husband had a special relationship with them, but they did this for free, and while I don't know that they would pick up for the most part without a fee, they still would probably agree to cremating when they already have the oven started up. I remember Couple to Couple League saying that funeral homes will often cooperate with burying a miscarried or stillborn child on a plot with someone else they are burying, free of charge, if burial is important to you. But there will be no headstone.
A memorial service is very important, and while funeral homes might charge a fee to do it, a pastor often will do it for free.
I actually spoke to the planners about this topic, and while they were quite sympathetic, were not able to put something together at the last minute. It was an honest oversight on their part.
Well said - as someone who not only has long term experience with infertility (PCOS) and is a pastor's wife, your remarks were right on. Before dh was a pastor, I used to dread going to church on mothers day, for baby showers, etc. People can be so insensitive.
God has allowed our struggle with infertlity to grow us and show us how to minister to others who experience it. We have many ladies in our church that are either primary or secondary infertile.
while I've never experienced m/c or stillbirth, seems the pain of it goes hand in hand with infertility. There is defitely empathy there for those ladies as well.
Wow. I'm late on the uptake with this, since I haven't peeked in for awhile, but the title caught my eye, since we just suffered a miscarriage this week. My blog post about it is here: http://refincher.wordpress.com/2007/11/09/and-the-lord-takes-away/
Just reading over these comments, it strikes me yet again how very nearly a universal experience this is for couples.
One other thing I would add: mothers receive far more support than fathers after a miscarriage.
Thank you for your site and comments. One of our sisters in the congregation just had a miscarriage. she had 2 before she renewed her faith. Now, she lost the third one. we prayed and prayed, she still miscarried. She does not want to see us, we text each other, but she wants to be alone. I told her it's ok to be sad and angry, I don't have an explanation for what happened. But serve God anyway. I'm grieving,I don't know what else to do. thank you for all your comments.Blessings
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