Dolly Parton’s life of faith

(OSV News) — The nearly 1,000 songs Dolly Parton recorded during her long career covered a wide range of topics. She not only dealt with the humiliation of poverty, harassment in a dead-end job and romantic rivalry, she also felt at home with such explicitly Christian numbers as 1989’s “He’s Alive” and “There Was Jesus,” released 30 years later.

In fact, Parton — who died at 80 from cancer on Aug. 25 at her home in Nashville, Tennessee — spent a lifetime comfortably steeped in biblical teaching. And her faith found expression in concrete ways that benefited millions around the world.

Brassy and flamboyant on stage, in private life she was quietly focused and never preachy. She preferred to lead by example, investing her wealth and fame in philanthropy with a particular interest in the vulnerable.

Even in childhood, Parton — one of 12 children — knew firsthand how illiteracy trapped people in misery. Because her father Robert, an East Tennessee farmer, could neither read nor write, his work opportunities were severely limited.

But Parton also knew how early in life the problem of illiteracy could be ameliorated. With that in mind, in 1995 she founded Imagination Library, which mails free age-appropriate books to children under 5. Successful from the outset, Imagination Library currently helps 3 million kids each month.

Another difficulty that affected Parton as a youngster was the widespread fear of contracting polio. In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to sow a similar terror across the globe, she was asked to help, and quietly swung into action.

Without fanfare, Parton donated $1 million for vaccine research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Her friend, Dr. Naji Abumrad, told her that a vaccine could be near. Her contribution established the Dolly Parton Covid-19 Research Fund, which was largely responsible for the development of the Moderna vaccine.

Parton had long since built a secure career in country music when, in 1977, she took a big leap with “Here You Come Again,” which became her first crossover pop hit. She became a national personality as a result, and her fame never dimmed.

Three years later, Parton took to the big screen, starring with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the popular workplace comedy “9 to 5.” The trio played put-upon secretaries subject to the tyranny of a lecherous boss (Dabney Coleman). Parton wrote and recorded the movie’s theme song — which was also well-received.

Dollywood, a theme park in her home state’s Pigeon Forge, was another of Parton’s successful ventures. It provided a considerable boost to the local economy in an area many would have considered too remote for an entertainment destination on such a large scale.

Parton’s reliance on spiritual themes — as well as her tendency to go in unexpected directions — was a constant. In 2012, she starred opposite Queen Latifah in the film “Joyful Noise” which charted the rivalry between two members of a small-town Georgia church choir.

Nine years later, Parton received a Christopher Award for her 2020 holiday special, “Christmas on the Square,” a modern-day retelling of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella “A Christmas Carol.” In what would be her final role, Parton played — unsurprisingly — a rhinestone-festooned angel.

Writing in January on the occasion of Parton’s 80th birthday, Rita Buettner, a columnist for the Catholic Review — the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s news outlet — described her reaction to the recently released re-recording of Parton’s 1977 song “Light of a Clear Blue Morning.”

“I was struck by the beauty of this gift from Dolly. It’s a song of hope and comfort and strength at a time when we can all use more of that. It’s also a song of faith.”

Buettner went on to praise the way Parton “clearly lives and demonstrates faith. She has faith in humanity, faith in a greater purpose, faith in God, faith in the future. I know Dolly isn’t Catholic. But we are Christians, and we are believers, and we are both trying to live each day taking one more step on the way to heaven — we hope.”

“She doesn’t always say it directly,” Buettner continued. “She doesn’t have to. It comes through in her music — as she uses the gifts God has given her to give the world a little more light, a little more beauty, a little more joy.”

“Dolly’s songs help others feel less alone,” Buettner concluded. “She brings us along on life’s journey, so we know that we are not the only ones experiencing sorrow or challenge or darkness or love.”

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