At its thematic center, Saints at the River is an environmental parable that argues nature itself is on the run. For Rash, nature is an absolute force that disregards humanity’s assorted dramas and tragedies. In the face of our concerted efforts to destroy nature in incremental bits, however, we are losing more than we are gaining. It is not just nature’s beauty we are losing, but rather, we are losing the nearest we have to the sublime power Christians accord to their God.

Rash is, at heart, a poet, and the narrative offers wonderfully vivid details of the Appalachian wilderness and the river itself, lyrical moments that recreate the experience of engaging nature. However, Rash also offers a stern lesson to a new millennium audience certain that they have become the stewards of nature. Rash’s environmentalists understand that their organized protests, their websites that promote activism, and even the legislation designed to save the wilderness pale next to the majesty and the muscle of nature itself. They understand they are losing in their efforts to preserve that majesty. There is no more poignant moment in the narrative than the sorrow in Luke’s eyes as he watches the bulldozers move in to cut the first gash into the river.