On a Hill Far Away

I agree with you, Kelsea. I also felt loneliness throughout the essay.
Mr. Pruzinsky, not only do I feel like God is not enough company for the boy, but I also feel like God is not enough company for the mother either. When the speaker had approached the house to ask for permission to run through their property, the mother was "nervous". The speaker clearly felt her loneliness. She says "my heart went out to her" and "I wanted to make her as happy as possible", even taking a few "pamphlets." I think that Dillard is trying to convey the message that sometimes God is not enough in our lives. I also suspect that the great passion for the Lord that the mother and the son feel is imposed by the father.
The father is depicted as a strong figure, who comes home from work and cannot set the table because 'that is not a man's job.' In contrast, the mother and the boy seem to always be nervous, doubtful to ask people about "knowing the Lord" and such. If this was something they wanted to do are were not forced to by anyone else, they would be confident, boldly asking rather than having to muster "courage". Therefore I feel like the father is an imposing religious man, placing "eight-foot alumninum cross[es]" and a sign which reads "Christ the Lord is our Salvation" around the house, and further on forcing his religion on his wife and his child.