The Shining Brother, first published fifty years ago and almost continually in print since then, remains as fresh as ever thanks to its dynamic but gentle message. It includes many scripts and messages purporting to come from St Francis with deeply interesting comments on his life in Assisi and communicated to Laurence Temple. Their simplicity bears the hallmark of authenticity and this is enhanced by Laurence Temple's own practicality and humility. He comments that 'I cannot read them without a sense stealing over me that I am in the presence of Holiness' ... a sentiment his readers will share. There is a quiet but insistent and very real authority inherent in the teachings. Furthermore the evidence is transmitted through several different channels, many of whom were unaware of what had gone before, yet the content and style of delivery remains consistently the same. St Francis does not preach but explains that 'by thy way of life, by offering of self, by the light with which I shall endow thee ... thy Father {will} manifest himself in thee'. The messages are acknowledged by Temple as having spurred him towards greater moral effort but 'never have they caused nervous tension or intellectual strain'. Many readers will feel the same. Their underlying theme is that esoteric knowledge is of secondary importance to the prime keynotes of love, service and humility.
