Gottebenbildlichkeit
In 1988, Smith published "In the Image of God", a book which explored the struggle to pray and enter into the mystery of the spiritual life. The book emphasized the need to engage the depths of our own experience, which was a principal way of coming to know the infinitely different Other that is God. Father Smith wrote, "A wise and very human monk once said to me that the things between God and us can be truthfully spoken about only in the way that friends talk to friends. I have tried to write down a partial record of such talk. I hope this book will help you to discover something more of the depths of your own self... in the image of God."