Flesh & blood: reproductive loss as a site of theological imagination (or doing theology with blood in your knickers)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The experience of reproductive loss has long been shrouded in silences. Theological silence has been one among many. In this article, I examine what it might mean to take the embodied experience of miscarriage as a site for theological reimagining. What does theology look like from this perspective? This question lends itself to the growing body of contextual theologies that recognise there is no neutral space from which to do theology and offers a rich and complex kind of theological discourse. Grounded in embodied experience, recognition of liminality, and rejection of individualism, this paper demonstrates that the miscarrying body offers profound insights into theological discourse and presents an opportunity for deep reflection on the kinds of theologies our bodies are capable of imagining. From out of this theological reimaging, I offer some examples of spiritual practice, prayers, and liturgies for use by and with those who have experienced reproductive loss.