In the introduction to the course, Smith shares her own experience of faith. and tells of how she spends one hour a day in silence seeking “union with God”.
Although Smith has generally held back from speaking publicly about her faith, she has penned a number of Christian books, including “Journey into God” in the 1980s, and she can occasionally be seen entering a church in her latest TV series.
Speaking in an interview with The Telegraph, she explained why she was suddenly talking more openly about her faith.
“It is such a difficult thing to communicate,” she said. “You run the risk of being misunderstood and knocked down. You have to consider what being a Christian is about. If we think being misunderstood and knocked down is bad, what is that next to what happened to Christ? If there is a reason why I have agreed to do this, it’s because he did it. He coped with ridicule and misunderstanding every day.”
She said how faith has been in her life since her childhood.
“My mother would put me to bed too early, when I could hear that all the other children were still up, so I was awake and bored. One night, she gave me a picture of Jesus with the children of the world, and taught me to say the Our Father. That is when I started with silence and stillness – there was this need in me even then for the Spirit.”
At the age of 22, Delia became a Catholic after being taken to Mass by a friend.
Now is “a difficult time for religion – especially in this anniversary year of Darwin. Anyone who mentions God is suddenly seen as a creationist,” she continued.
“When CAFOD asked me, I wasn’t at all sure about it. There wasn’t much space on the website to explain what I felt, but then sometimes I feel there are just too many words written about God and religion. What I really wanted to do was share a shortcut.”
Smith also shared advice on how to come closer to God, saying that every day she spends half an hour in the morning and in the late afternoon in total silence.
“We all have a need sometimes to be by ourselves and be still. I know that making that sort of commitment can be very difficult, so what I suggest is that you build it up gradually, over years. Start with 20 minutes a day.
“We can do nothing. We give God our time. It’s not necessary to switch our minds off – we just try to follow him more closely. He does the rest.”
She gives the apt example of Mary and Martha in the Bible. She says that while Martha was busy cooking and doing housework, Mary was sitting silently at the Lord’s feet.
She also said that she believes more people are becoming open to God now because of the economic crisis.
“I think there may be an opening to God right now because of the pressures people are under with this recession. They may be realising that materialism can never make you happy in the end.”
On the web: www.cafod.org.uk/worship/lent-and-easter
