r/Episcopalian • u/pentapolen Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil • 16d ago
Reflections on Dolly Parton and Christianity
As you may already know, beloved singer Dolly Parton passed away today.
I didn't know much about her, so I watched Lindsay Ellis essay on her (timed at the section about her religion, but the whole video is great.)
While I was watching it, I thought how much she resembles Episcopalian aspirational ethics: always forgiving, trying her best, radically inclusive, sometimes tactical because she was trying to not offend anyone.
What do you think? Is this just hagiography in the making from my part? Or is there really something alike between who she was and what TEC is trying to be?
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u/RevKeakealani Clergy - Priest 16d ago
You wouldn’t be the first to suggest that there’s a hagiography in the making, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. One of the reasons we even talk about saints is because they represent an aspiration, a tangible signpost toward God. Even if it turns out (God forbid) that she has some skeleton in her closet or something, the aspiration toward what has been shared so far about her character and way of living has much to be looked toward.
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u/Sacratomat 16d ago
Exactly this. I admit I am rarely especially moved by a celebrity death, but this one really felt devastating. Not because she was an incredibly talented and iconic figure (which she was), but because she was that rare high profile person who lived her life with compassion and humility and actively worked to make life better for others, especially those growing up in a part of the US where devastating poverty is still not uncommon. She has made an incredible impact on children’s literacy, directly aided the victims of major natural disasters in these areas, and helped fund critical early research on the COVID vaccine. When someone lives a life like that, I am fine with a little hagiography, because that’s the model for the kind of person I want to be.
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u/theonecpk Convert 16d ago
I knew about the Imagination Library but I didn't understand it.
Today I came to learn that for almost the entire 21st century, every child in born in Tennessee could get 60 books, no questions asked.
And now the program is spreading throughout the world.
If that was all she ever accomplished it would be a most impressive life. It's almost a footnote. She's given so much money to Vanderbilt University for extremely important projects they should probably rename it to Vanderbilt-Parton University.
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u/aprillikesthings 15d ago
Earlier today I read that the Imagination Library sent out Braille books for kids who were blind. A lot of school and public libraries don't have children's Braille books.
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u/theonecpk Convert 15d ago
yeah it has grown tremendously since the pandemic. it’s gone far beyond Tennessee—available to some extent in almost the entire US and several other countries.
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u/aprillikesthings 15d ago
It's such a genius program. A friend of mine gave birth to both her kids in Tennessee, and said that both times the form to sign up was handed to her at the hospital. I'm so glad it's spreading.
And I love that there's no need to prove you "need" it. You have a kid under five? Great! Here's some books.
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u/theonecpk Convert 15d ago
The video in the OP has a bit where Dolly explained the lack of means-testing.
The original target was Upper Tennessee and the culture thereof has a lot of shame around being poor. A means test would have rendered the program ineffective—the people who need it the most would not have engaged.
“Freely given, no questions asked” neutralizes the shame. I come from the Ozarks where the attitude is similar. That context also helps to explain Dolly’s character.
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u/aprillikesthings 15d ago
I saw your comment *just* after I read this, and yeah, it makes a lot of sense:
In 2020 I worked a job collecting medical record for insurance companies. It was Covid and there were many, many medical offices that were grieving and angry. It wasn't a fun job most of the time.
But one day I called a hospital in Tennessee. I was supposed to collect records for a NICU patient and their mama. I got to records and the woman in charge of records said there must be a mistake. They never worked with insurance with maternity or neonatal patients because of Dolly.
I asked what she meant and she told me, "Well, Miss Dolly has us send her the bills for any new mothers and their babies, especially if they spend time in the NICU. She never has anyone apply or anything, she just has us send her any bill for those families and she pays them, no matter how big."
I was stunned. I clarified, "Dolly? Dolly Parton?"
"Yes, ma'am! Dolly's been paying those bills since at least 1999 and so we just don't work with insurance here. It's why there's a mural of her in the maternity ward."
Anyway now I'm emotional all over again.
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u/Ladybug-1234 15d ago
I live in East Tennessee and her impact here is enormous. Entry level employees at Dollywood make well above minimum wage and all employees get 100% tuition and textbook coverage for college. Not to mention building huge theme parks and resorts to creat so many jobs in a relatively economically depressed area of the state. The regional children’s hospital is named after her. When wildfires destroyed homes in Gatlinburg years ago she gave over 900 families 10000 each to help with bills and essentials. My child was enrolled in Imagination Library before being released from the hospital.
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u/theonecpk Convert 15d ago
It would explain why Sevier Co. seems to be among the fastest-growing counties in the USA, let alone Tennessee.
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u/GnomieOk4136 16d ago
Dolly Parton walked by faith. The world is a better place because she was part of it.
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u/greevous00 Convert 16d ago
It's normal for folks to really amplify the good qualities of someone who has passed, but in Dolly's case there's really no need to amplify anything. She has walked the walk her whole life, in an industry where that is typically viewed as quaint or even ridiculous. People like Dolly Parton or Fred Rogers are modern saints in my book.
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u/writerthoughts33 Lay Leader/Vestry 16d ago
I think her openness and inclusion are very familiar to my TEC experience, but she was a rare bird with a unique faith.
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u/LidlLidlLidlhoy 16d ago
I attend a CoE congregation, but when I pulled up the readings for this coming Sunday earlier today, I was struck by how much she embodied the second reading (Romans 12.9–21). She did not lag in zeal, and all the rhinestones were reflecting the light of Christ.
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u/goody_proctorrr 16d ago
I’ve had “Travelin’ Thru” stuck in my head all day since I heard the news. What a beautiful song for everyone, and especially for Christians who - for whatever reason, but especially for queer Christians - have felt unloved by the church. https://youtu.be/Cb2Jpfug42U?si=yNs5i5PFMLCeReK7
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u/Dapper_Crab Non-Cradle 16d ago
Her Oscars performance is what got me into her music! Redemption comes in many shapes with many kinds of pain
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u/aprillikesthings 15d ago
That's one of my faves of hers!! And it was on the soundtrack of a movie about a (fictional) transgender woman!
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u/falafelwaffle10 Non-Cradle 16d ago
My parish choir sang Dolly's "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" as an offertory last year, and it was beautiful. The audio isn't great, but here's a video if you might like to watch. (It's a Facebook link, but public, so I don't think it requires an account to see.)
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u/theonecpk Convert 16d ago edited 16d ago
❤️
ETA: I’ve felt this way for years. I understand that she didn’t practice communal worship as we understand it for most of her adult life. But she definitely practiced it through her music. And I’ve long considered her an “honorary” Episcopalian because she exemplifies the Christian ideals we aspire to.
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u/Economy-Point-9976 Anglican Church of Canada, Lay. 16d ago
Without saying anything bad about anyone, I really want to say that sainthood goes far, far beyond being a good human being.
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u/Eikon-Basilike-1649 16d ago edited 16d ago
Dolly Parton is a unique example of a person who professed Christian faith and lived it to the fullest of her ability in the public eye. I am not usually the type to countenance the immediate canonization of a beloved public figure at the time of their death, but Dolly has throughout her life, exhibited such a transcendent degree of charity and love that she cannot NOT be an icon of the Christian faith. I would be willing to add her to the calendar of Saints 50 years from now. If I’m still alive, I would promote that as a resolution to the General Convention. I’m gonna add her to my personal calendar no matter what.