Jennifer Preyss

Four mornings a week, in the tranquil, blushing hours of morning, Diana Butler Bass drives to a familiar walking trail along the Potomac River and embarks on a two-mile stroll.

Creeping sunlight peppers the wooded scene. And the babble of active water silences the jangle of daily life.

Some days she finds a comfortable bench along the river where she can journal. Other days, she observes creation.

For Bass, a learned nature connoisseur, ardent gardener, and noted religion academic, God does not merely exist inside reverent, adorned church spaces.

God also lives in the soil and exists in the elements.