I have been fascinated by a large series of reels on social media following the death of Dolly Parton. They show Dolly Parton as a brilliant star of entertainment, mostly through her music but also in her films, and as a quick-witted, endearingly self-deprecating, very humourous interviewee of many TV talk shows. She was also a canny businesswomen who stood her ground against men in the entertainment world who tried to make more dollars from her than they deserved, and with her wealth, Dolly was an outstanding philanthropist. To cap everything off in the tributes through the past week, not one person has a bad word to say about her. In fact, lots of warm, sincere eulogies have been made paying tribute to her goodness and greatness as a wonderful human being.
The Living Church offers this report which points to the possibility of the calendar of The Episcopal Church incorporating formal remembrance of Dolly Parton:
"Episcopalians are paying tribute to the artistry and philanthrophy of Dolly Parton, the singer, actress, and songwriter whose rise from poverty to becoming a country music legend and successful entrepreneur draw admiration from a broad swathe of American society.
On Threads, the Rev. Rachel Kessler, rector of Harcourt Parish in Kenyon College, is advocating for Parton’s commemoration in the Episcopal Church calendar on the day of her death, August 25, at the age of 80."
By contrast, I have seen on X comments made by sincere and genuine Christians that Dolly Parton is most certainly not in heaven because she was not a true and wholehearted follower of Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour, the implication being that she has in recent years erred and strayed from the faith of her upbringing, perhaps due to her warm and inclusive embrace of the LGBTi community, to say nothing of a more or less universalist approach to the salvation of all.
We could get stuck in the weeds of the theological suppositions and presuppositions involved in either positing Dolly Parton should be fast-tracked into ecclesiastical calendars or that we (somehow, when we are not God) have a sure and solid ability to determine that Dolly Parton is in the place opposite to where many, many people around the world assume she is.
My thinking (for what it is worth) is twofold.
First, we should celebrate the goodness and greatness of this remarkable human being. She was amazingly talented. She was very, very kind - as many children who have benefitted from her generous book programme delivering books around the world are testifying to, to say nothing of many other beneficiaries of her kindness and generosity. In so celebrating, we could usefully look at ourselves and ask whether we are doing all in our power to do as much good in the world as we can - that is what Dolly Parton did, and she did it with a large dose of personal humbleness. Thanks be to God for her example.
Secondly, we should consider carefully the character she exhibited in her generosity, her inclusiveness, her kindness and her unwillingness to engage in tit for tat meanness. (Romans 12:9-21, the epistle reading for Sunday 30 August 2026, Ordinary 22, is most apt as a lens through which to assess the quality of her character.) If Dolly was a true Christian, then something very, very Christlike shone through her bubbly personality. If Dolly was not a true Christian, then something very, very Christlike shone through her bubbly personality. I am happy to leave it to the God of heaven how he views each and every human being, from the most famous to the least well-known. But I think it might be avoidance if I stop there and do not ask of myself, am I the best self I can be in the light of my belief that the way of Christ is the way to God and to human flourishing? Am I allowing Christ to work on every aspect of myself to transform my heart so that I too have a generous, gracious, kind, warm and relentlessly loving approach to all people I meet?
Might such questions be better questions to ask in relation to the life of Dolly Parton than asking whether she is or is not with the Lord Jesus Christ?
1 comment:
Absolutely, Peter. Well said.
And when does the drive for sainthood - to say this or that person is a "saint" - start to look like a sort of elitist Christian roll of honour/hall of fame? Plus the inevitable Christian bun fight and judgmentalism on what is a saint and does this or that person truly qualify?
All are called to be saints, to take our place in the communion of saints, rather than projecting our own light onto others.
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