Erin (MA in Counseling Psychology ‘09) and Stephen Mitchell, along with their two boys, live in Denver, CO, where they work as therapists in private practice. In this presentation from Symposia 2016, Erin and Stephen joined our community via live stream to reflect on their personal story of miscarriage.
Erin: “I am carrying death within me, and I cannot bear the thought of not carrying him at all.”
Stephen: “There is little language, few stories, for us to look to in order to try to understand what miscarriage meant for us.”
Acknowledging our collective tendency to rush past the mystery of pain, Erin and Stephen encourage us to bear witness to loss by remaining. In this remaining, redemption comes; those who have experienced loss finally feel felt. This is the story of redemption — one that is big enough to hold all that has been lost.
Loss is overlooked because it is so painful. We possess limited language for loss because to acknowledge it is terrifying. We as a culture are loss adverse. Sadly, we experienced this same response within the church.
This presentation was filmed at the second annual Symposia: An Intersection of Conversation & Innovation, a forum in which alumni of The Seattle School presented the ongoing work they are pursuing at the intersection of text, soul, and culture. Integrative education does not end at graduation, and Symposia highlights the ways that Seattle School alumni are continuing to wrestle with big questions and big dreams in theology, psychology, and culture. You can see more videos from Symposia 2016 on our Vimeo. We’d love for you to join us for Symposia 2017, “The Art of Resilience,” on October 7.