Odie engages with several symbolic constructions in his attempts to arrive at a meaningful conception of God. Following Mrs. Frost’s death during a tornado, Odie begins to conceive of God as a kind of tornado, randomly destroying the things and people in its path. Mr. Brickman teaches that God is like a shepherd tending his flock, but Albert points out that shepherds eat their sheep. Odie’s pessimistic views of God prove incomplete as Jack, Sister Eve, and others draw his attention to the goodness and beauty of life. The Epilogue adds a final metaphor, describing God as a river that comprises all existence.

The novel’s title comes from a conversation between Jack and Odie in which Jack describes the land as “beautiful” and “tender,” part of a great whole. “Land,” in this sense, refers to much more than soil. Instead, it becomes a metonymical representation of nature as a whole. Odie and his companions’ journey takes them through a variety of landscapes, including a special place where Emmy and Odie witness a field light up with fireflies, which they return to in the Epilogue. Odie later learns that Sister Eve spends time each day in quiet, natural surroundings to meditate.