Be a Dolly

I was thinking...

I love the way a friend of mine honored Dolly Parton last week. She simply wrote, “Be a Dolly!” By the time you read this Monday Memo, the news feeds will have been saturated with acknowledgements of the beauty (at many levels) of Dolly Parton. “Be a Dolly!” That sums it up for me as well.

I didn’t know Dolly’s politics. I didn’t know Dolly’s religious denominational preferences. I didn’t know Dolly’s private life. I suppose some of this could have been researched on my behalf, but I didn’t think it necessary. Why? Because there is a sense within me that says I do know Dolly Parton. I have never met Dolly, nor did I ever attend a live performance of her musical talent. I, unlike many people, didn’t even have my photo taken with Dolly. Yet my soul resonates that I knew Dolly well. How can this be?

It was Jesus who was recorded by the gospel writer Matthew to have said, “Either consider the tree good and its fruit good or consider the tree rotten and its fruit rotten. A tree is known for its fruit.” (12:33 CEB) I have observed Dolly’s fruit from afar, and it was good. I only know her through media outlets, but if I were a betting man (and I am not, except for the purchase of a lottery ticket every now and then), I’d bet Dolly was a faithful follower of Christ. She loved people, regardless of who they were and what they believed. Be a Dolly!

We live in a time where it seems as though character has taken a back seat to many other personal preferences. If this tide of character absence is not rerouted, there will be “hell to pay,” to borrow a proverbial phrase. Some might even say we are purchasing “hell” already. Dolly, however, never succumbed to such a purchase. While I’m certain Dolly wasn’t perfect, she was leaning into the reality that others’ imperfections and/or sins should not be judged by her. She was too human to feel any other way. She had character that ran deep and wide. Those who knew her personally knew she could be trusted to be honest, caring, and, above all, loving. Be a Dolly!

Without getting into divisive politics too far, I might be inclined to wear a bumper sticker on my truck (and I am not a bumper sticker person) that reads “Dolly for President!” Now I know that is not a reality anymore, but I hope you get my meaning. We need the Dollys of this world leading us these days. We need people with character and souls that love deeply. Be a Dolly!

Dolly’s fruit was true to the roots of grace. She received criticism from time to time for being so gracious. Wow! That’s the kind of criticism I crave; how about you? (And I don’t like criticism at all…unless it is constructive.) Be a Dolly!

So, my apologies for writing this amongst all the other better-scripted articles and remembrances of a life well lived. However, there was something in Dolly Parton that needs repeating in you and in me! I feel that I knew her well because of the living witness and honorable fruit-bearing that was her. And isn’t it ironic that in the midst of this season of Dolly’s death, there is a hurricane brewing in the Caribbean named Dolly. Hmmm, maybe, just maybe, God’s sense of humor is stirring. We need a hurricane of love and grace to blow across this ole world of ours. Be a Dolly!

Always thinking...