The borders of the self do not stop with my own body: I am, I exist, only as I am in touch with the others, the other subjects who influence me and whom I influence. This enlarged sense of self makes it possible to rejoice when others prosper, to mourn when they are diminished. It also makes it possible to feel comfort from others in one's own sorrow and to feel support from them in good times. The organic, interdependent, interrelational model is, then, a necessary part of the community model. An ecological self pushes back the boundaries, enlarging the sense of who and what one cares for. This is what the saints do: they identify with, connect with, others, often the most oppressed, despised others, as part of themselves. The joys and sorrows of others become their joys and sorrows.
— Sallie McFague, Super, Natural Christians