The Gentle Dark

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

“God whose loving knows no end, / gentle shepherd, playful friend. /
God who shaped the earth with care, / listen to my nighttime prayer. /
Things today that made me sad, / anything I did that’s bad, / these I
whisper in your ear, / knowing that you always hear. / There is nowhere
I can be / where your love won’t comfort me. / Nothing I can do or say
/ ever takes your love away. / Be with those I love, I pray, / bless and
keep them night and day. / Help me share the gifts you give. / let me
always with you live.”

The passage quoted above is titled “Night Prayer,” one of 18
prayers and religious poems designed to be read to or by youngsters. The
author is a regular contributor to the United Church Observer and
Mandate magazine and the editor of a new ecumenical Sunday school
curriculum, Bible Quest. Although the poems and prayers are definitely
religious, they are not overtly Christian in that there are no specific
references to Christ. Some of the poems are humorous (e.g., “Does God
Snore?”), but most are aimed at providing comfortable images of a
loving, ever-caring nondenominational God. The beautiful illustrations,
by Chao Yu, feature happy children from a variety of cultures and races.


According to the back-cover copy, the book is intended to “heal some
of the negative associations we have had of ‘dark.’” As a
nonthreatening prayer resource, The Gentle Dark will be welcome in any
mainstream Christian household. Recommended.