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Surely not everyone in America is a country music fan, right?
Nor is everyone simply mega fans of 1980s hit rom-coms and movie dramas either. So what gives?
What exactly made Dolly Parton, the country music sensation, entrepreneurial businesswoman and pop culture icon, so universally beloved?
I don't pretend to know Dolly Parton's politics. Couldn't tell you whether she swung left or right, actually.
But I do know this: She seemed to be the most sincere and genuinely kind philanthropist that most Americans have known for nearly 50 years. And she did it in such a loving way that it seems no one wanted to pick a fight with her.
Is there a valuable lesson in there somewhere? Can I construe this observation to say that her oversized giving was the result of some deeply held faith beliefs? Yes, to the first question. No, to the second.
But I do think that one could assign some general correlation between how Dolly Parton, a super celebrity, treated people -- every kind of people, in fact -- and evidence of the Holy Spirit's actions.
I'm no scholar of the country yodeler's life, but it seems to me from a pastor on the outside looking in, that what made Dolly so likable was her kindness and compassion. She may well have had negative feelings toward someone, or some group of people, and I'll never know. But I'll tell you what, it surely didn't seem like it.
From the perspective of a Gen Xer growing up during the height of her active career, never once did I perceive her being a celebrity who rode on her fame. Quite the opposite actually. It has seemed that she lived a counterintuitive and generous lifestyle, giving freely and willingly from her heart, and not for show.
"OK, so what's this got to do with faith, Pastor?" you might be asking. That's a fair question.
To answer, I'd say that ... Dolly's passing this week got me to thinking about our current societal morass, and how we can't seem to get along about anything. In fact, it seems we’re driven to fight about everything, and divide into tribes over the silliest of things.
Except about Dolly. Everyone loved Dolly. ... And if that is the case, then what was it about her that impressed all of us?
Well, the best I can figure is that she literally knew how to let her faith shine. She didn't have to force it on anyone. She basically said, "Take it or leave it. But I'm not going to hide my little light, oh no. I'm going to let it shine!"
And in the course of doing so she helped improve millions of lives.
I'd say that is a mighty fine example of what a faithful life is, and all it needs to be. Amen.
Devlyn Brooks is the CEO of Churches United in Moorhead, Minn., and an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America serving Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He blogs about faith at findingfaithin.com, and can be reached at devlynbrooks@gmail.com.