Have you ever wondered, ‘why is Branson Missouri famous’? Why does anyone want to go there? Well according to the Google search assistant —
Missouri, is renowned for its vibrant entertainment scene and stunning natural beauty. It is often referred to as the “Live Entertainment Capital of the World” due to its numerous theaters and live shows.
Further down the page you’ll find what I just discovered after reading the book ‘Shepherd of the Hills’ by Harold Bell Wright.
Branson’s popularity surged in the early 20th century, particularly after the publication of Harold Bell Wright’s novel “The Shepherd of the Hills” in 1907, which drew visitors to the area. The arrival of the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1902 further facilitated tourism.
I’m fairly sure that Wright would not be very happy about what has happened to the “hills” he so lovingly wrote about. I’m usually not one for reading stories written in a dialect that I am not familiar with, only because I am a stickler for pronunciation. However with this book I was able to get into the flow fairly easily. The Shepherd of the Hills, was the first American novel to have sold a million copies!
Here and there among men, there are those who pause in the hurried rush to listen to the call of a life that is more real. He who sees too much is cursed for a dreamer, a fanatic, or a fool, by the mad mob, who, having eyes, see not, ears and hear not, and refuse to understand.”
We build temples and churches, but will not worship in them; we hire spiritual advisers, but refuse to heed them; we buy bibles, but will not read them; believing in God, we do not fear Him; acknowledging Christ, we neither follow nor obey Him. Only when we can no longer strive in the battle for earthly honors or material wealth, do we turn to the unseen but more enduring things of life; and, with ears deafened by the din of selfish war and cruel violence, and eye blinded by the glare of passing pomp and folly, we strive to hear and see the things we have so long refused to consider.
–From The Shepherd of the Hills
Of course we ‘hear’ the words of Yeshua in the book of Matthew and the prophet Isaiah…
And the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled on them, which says, “In hearing you will hear and in no way understand, and seeing you will see yet in no way perceive. For the heart of this people has grown fat, and they heard heavily with the ears, and they have closed their eyes, that they not see with the eyes, or hear with the ears, and understand with the heart, and be converted, and I heal them.”Isa. 6:9, 10
…and perhaps the admonishment of Solomon
“…there is no new thing under the sun.”
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The Shepherd of the Hills |
| by Harold Bell Wright | |
| Year Written: 1907 | |
| Grosset & Dunlap | |
| ISBN – 0-448-01056-9 |
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