She was an icon of country music and a superstar with millions of fans… but Dolly Parton was also a prophet who changed the world by showing us what it really means to love your neighbor.
“Prophets, then, are full truth-tellers, not fortune-tellers. They pull back the veil to radically reframe our preferred storyline of history: the boring and predictable narrative of winners and losers, rewards and punishments. They are by definition those rare individuals who see reality in its fullness and dimension, rather than in dualities like totally right or totally wrong, all good or all bad.”
richard rohr
Dolly Parton loved her neighbors in Seville County, Tennessee. She also understood deeply that everyone (and especially those who are marginalized) are our neighbors, too – a core teaching of her Christian faith.
Here’s a short list of ways Dolly Parton showed us how to live wisely and love well.
May her memory be a blessing – and a call to action for us to share what we can and love as much as we are able.
“Find out who you are. And do it on purpose.”
Dolly parton
Mail millions of kids a book and a personal note every month until they turn 5
Pay for marching band uniforms for Black high schools
Write about and support people who work hard for a living
Do one of your most famous songs as a duet with an unknown 15 year old
Being genuinely excited by fans (not professional muscians) who cover your songs
Platform unknown artists in your work
Provide full tuition support and so many other important things to support your employees
Always be gracious and kind (with humor) when someone attacks you
Help researchers trying to save lives at the beginning of a pandemic.
Go on television to get the your COVID vaccine
Read a story every Thursday night for 10 weeks to reassure kids scared by the pandemic
Rebuild your neighbor’s homes destroyed by a fire
Send money to people devastated by a hurricane
Publicly support the LBGT community even when (or maybe because) your fans didn’t.
Create college scholarships for kids in your neighborhood
“We’re supposed to love one another and love our neighbor as ourselves, but that seems to be such a hard thing to do. Yet it doesn’t take that much time to be kind.”
dolly parton