“An ecological spirituality needs to be built on three premises: the transience of selves, the living interdependency of all things, and the value of the personal in communion. Many spiritual traditions have emphasized the need to "let go of ego" but in ways that diminished the value of the person, undercutting particularly those, like women, who scarcely have been allowed individuated personhood at all. We need to "let go of the ego" in a different sense. We are called to affirm the integrity of our personal center of being, in mutuality with the personal centers of all other beings across species and, at the same time, accept the transience of these personal selves.”
~from GAIA AND GOD by Rosemary Radford Ruether
Invitation: ‘We are called …”
More about Rosemary Radford Ruether at this (link) and her books at this (link).
Rosemary Radford Ruether (2 November 1936 – 21 May 2022) was an American Catholic feminist theologian known for her significant contributions to the fields of feminist theology and ecofeminist theology.[1] Her teaching and her writings helped establish these areas of theology as distinct fields of study; she is recognized as one of the first scholars to bring women's perspectives on Christian theology into mainstream academic discourse.[2][3]
Mary Hunt and others discuss the influence of Rosemary Radford Ruether in this Youtube video.
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I am grateful for the voice and wisdom of Rosemary Radford Ruether. I affirm this wholeheartedly: “An ecological spirituality needs to be built on three premises: the transience of selves, the living inter-dependency of all things, and the value of the personal in communion." Moreover, her check on asking those who have been historically oppressed "to let go of ego" rings truthfully.