Dolly Parton left us last week. She entered America’s hearts as a country music performer. She leaves us as one of our most iconic and beloved figures. Tributes to her indicate our hearts are broken yet full.

She earned everything required to be called a celebrity. She leveraged that title to be so much more. At every step of the way she gave back.

She was born into a dirt poor family in Appalachia, at least by monetary standards. As she made clear over the years in statement and song, it wasn’t money that mattered. Her song “Coat of Many Colors” summed it up with the lyrics “And oh, I couldn't understand it for I felt I was rich and I told 'em of the love my momma sewed in every stitch…But they didn't understand it and I tried to make them see that one is only poor only if they choose to be.”

Many didn’t understand it, or a less charitable interpretation, is that she was still openly looked down upon for not giving up her rural ways. A famous interview with Barbara Walters demonstrated grace and class while being called a hillbilly to her face. 

She understood her roots, and refused to let how others viewed her shake her. When asked if it bothered her to be considered a dumb blonde, she said of course it didn’t because she knew she wasn’t dumb, and she knew she wasn’t blonde.

While many were content with underestimating her, she was making the most her many talents that seemed to outnumber the many colors in coat made from her mother’s love. Singer. Actress. Businesswoman. Philanthropist. Literacy Advocate. Evangelist. Those are just the broad professional titles for her many successful ventures. She had the full set of personal talents which included strength, resolve, perseverance, empathy, vision… and so many more.

She took care of her people. Dollywood was often described as a way to help get her family jobs. That enterprise alone now employs about 23,000 of her Tennessee family members, and provides an almost $2 billion annual economic impact to a region that is now demonstrably richer for her contributions.

She didn’t like that her people were considered dumb by the elites she worked with in New York and L.A. so she started sending kids books.  She’s now donated over 300 million children’s books to promote literacy. I have to think she smiled at all the recent studies showing Mississippi now has the highest literacy rates in the country for elementary school students…while still seeing that we still have so much work to do here.

She made direct contributions and efforts to fix graduation rates, support disaster victims, and medical research. Each has real, tangible results. It wasn’t about putting her name on buildings, it was about making positive changes in lives and lifting up entire communities. 

She was an open advocate for her faith in word, deed, and song. If you’re building a playlist of her songs this week, make sure you include “He’s Alive”. 

She even sang in my little home church’s choir – sort of. About 15 years ago she starred alongside Queen Latifah in a movie about a small church choir. The move production company used Bethany Methodist Church in North Fayette County as the principal set for the film. They even used members of our church as a lot of the extras. 

It’s quite surreal to sit in a theater and watch the great Mrs. Parton sing behind the pulpit where you learned your most important life lessons and was the gathering place for those in life you’ve loved the most. Even more so when the shot pans to the pews and many of those faces are captured if but for a fleeting moment.  For that I needed to add a personal thank you.

It was in that church I learned the parable of the talents from the 25^th book of Matthew. I’ve confided to a few that this is the one passage that I find the most daunting at this stage of my life. 

This is the story of a rich man leaving “talents” – pieces of his wealth – among three servants based on their abilities.  The two with the greatest abilities, given 5 and 3 talents each, doubled theirs and presented the profits to him upon return. But the other hid the one talent and only gave it back upon the master’s return. It served no use while on loan, and returned no yield to anyone except what was given. It was a wasted opportunity. 

Dolly was given so many talents – yet none of the obvious paths to unlock them and almost every barrier that prevents most of us from even trying. There is no doubt when she returned her talents last week she was told “well done my good and faithful servant.”

With all the well-deserved complements flowing her way last week a scene from As Good As It Gets seemed to frame most of the responses. During an argument in a restaurant, Helen Hunt’s character demands Jack Nickelson’s character pay her a complement. He pauses before blurting out “you make me want to be a better person.”

Many reflections on her life indicated Dolly made us want to be better people. That’s a nice feeling, yet also an empty platitude.

Her formula was to act with purpose and have tangible and attainable goals in mind. Random acts of kindness make us feel good, but they don’t employ 23,000 people, teach a generation how to read, or lift graduation rates. 

If you want to live like Dolly, inventory your talents. Dig them up if you need. Put them to work, with purpose. That’s how we become better people – by helping others become their best. I’m pretty sure that’s as good as it gets.