Hello, readers! This week, my heart is overflowing with amazement and excitement as I reflect on a life that truly embodied the love of Jesus Christ. My family and I have been absolutely captivated by Dolly Parton from the very moment she first stepped onto the screen on “The Porter Wagoner Show” in the late 1960s. She stepped in after “pretty little Norma Jean” left. We watched her grow from a sweet, talented small-town girl into a global superstar. When Dolly recently went home to be with the Lord, the entire world stopped to mourn. But more importantly, the world stopped to remember how she lived.
Before we dive into her incredible legacy, I must pause. Next Friday marks Sept. 11, the 25th anniversary of that historic, heartbreaking day that changed our nation forever. I want to extend my deepest, most heartfelt prayers and condolences to all of the families who lost loved ones on 9/11. This historic moment deserves a column of its own, but this week, I’m writing what’s most prevalent in my spirit. We will never forget all of those who perished, and those who were left behind, and we lift you up in Christian love.
Even in the face of tragedy and loss, we look to those who brought light into dark places. Dolly was a superstar of the highest order, but she didn’t use her immense wealth to buy up a bunch of million-dollar mansions across the globe.
No, honey! Decades ago, she and her beloved late husband, Carl Dean, bought a beautiful 60-acre ranch in Tennessee. And that was home. They stayed grounded, stayed humble and stayed right there where their roots were.
Dolly lived her life by a beautiful scriptural blueprint, specifically anchoring her actions in Galatians 6:2: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” She knew that when someone else was heavy-laden, it was her Christian duty to lift that weight.
Look at how she handled her masterpiece, “I Will Always Love You.” Dolly actually wrote that song back in 1973 as a soulful, heartfelt musical farewell to Porter Wagoner when she left his show to go solo.
Decades later, when Whitney Houston took Dolly Parton’s 1973 country ballad “I Will Always Love You” and turned it into an international pop anthem for the 1992 film “The Bodyguard,” it generated roughly $10 million in royalties for Dolly. Instead of spending that windfall on personal luxuries, Dolly quietly used the money in 1997 to purchase an entire retail strip mall and office complex located in Sevier Park, a historically Black neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee.
At a time when other commercial developers were ignoring the area, Dolly moved her own management offices into the building to intentionally invest in and support the surrounding Black families and businesses.
She kept the purchase a secret for nearly 25 years until a 2021 interview with Andy Cohen, where she beautifully explained her reasoning, stating: “I thought, ‘This is the perfect place for me to be,’ considering it was Whitney … I’m just going to be down here with her people, who are my people as well. I love the fact that I spent that money on a complex, and I think, ‘This is the house that Whitney built.'”
Dolly was always finding creative ways to bear the burdens of our youth. In her hometown, high school dropout rates were a staggering 35%. To fix it, she started the Buddy Program. She put the children in pairs and had them sign a contract promising to help each other graduate. If they both stuck it out and walked across that stage to get their diplomas, Dolly handed a $500 check to both buddies! That brilliant act of love and accountability dropped the dropout rate to an incredible 6%.
Let me tell you about some of the blessings she poured out that most of us have never even heard of. Dolly had a deep, quiet love for the Black community.
For decades, Dolly secretly and anonymously funded marching band instruments — many of whose bands posted on Facebook to thank her, showing footage of themselves performing — She purchased uniforms and equipment for underfunded, predominantly Black high schools across the South. She never put her name on it. No press releases, just a pure heart providing for children because it was needed. She even quietly directed portions of her massive royalties toward historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to support education.
And we cannot forget her magnificent global ministry of literacy, a project she created in memory of her father who could not read or write, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which has gifted over 200 million free books to children! If you want to bless a child and support this beautiful mission, you can visit their official website at imaginationlibrary.com to make a donation or register a child in your neighborhood. My daughter just signed up for my newest grandson. His books will start coming soon!
Beloved, I want to encourage you today to take a page out of Dolly Parton’s book! You don’t need millions of dollars to bear someone else’s burden. You just need a heart full of love and a willingness to give back to your community. Let us live our lives out loud for God, but keep our giving quiet, just like Dolly.
Lyndia Grant is a speaker/writer living in the D.C. area. Her radio show, “Think on These Things,” airs Fridays at 6 p.m. on 1340 AM (WYCB), a Radio One station. To reach Grant, go to her website, www.lyndiagrant.com, email lyndiagrantshowdc@gmail.com or call 240-602-6295. Follow her on X @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook.
