Piety and praxis go together. This certainly appears to be the case with the saints of the Christian tradition. For over twenty years I have taught a course on religious autobiographies. Two things have stood out for me in the lives of these extraordinary Christians: first, a profound relationship with God as the basis for their works of justice and mercy and, second, the growth of their love in ever-widening circles. . . . Great praxis demands great piety. Their love for others was not only deep; it was also wide. It often began with family and friends but grew into a universal love. Bonhoeffer developed a relationship with his jailers, and Woolman saw the connections between greed and the destruction of life, both the lives of slaves and the well-being of nature. The Christian practice of radical love knows no bounds: it does not stop at any border, even the human one.
The lives of these moderns saints are instructive as we try to define what a Christian nature spirituality might be.
— Sallie McFague, Super, Natural Christians