September 3, 2026 – Daily Devotional
I imagine that many of us have been reading, listening to, and telling stories about Dolly Parton since her passing last week. Even though we suspected that she had been struggling, I don’t think we were ready to hear that her light had left us here on earth.
Intrigued by her poor beginnings, I have followed her musical and personal story for a very long time. I love her for her music and authenticity. I love how she can relate to people of all ages. I love that she never forgot her roots; while those roots shaped who Dolly became, they did not define her. I believe it was Dolly’s faith that defined her and how she lived her life: generous, kind, loving, caring, compassionate and faithful. She had the ability to lift people’s spirit, whether through song, or an interview witnessed on television. Dolly was a special person, and the legacy she leaves through her Library of Imagination will have a lasting impact on children throughout the world. Can you imagine being a child and receiving one of her books in the mail? If you ever received one, I’d love to hear your story.
One of my favorite Dolly songs is “I Will Always Love You.” However, I didn’t learn the story behind the song until last week. Story has it that Dolly’s song, I Will Always Love You, was written to mark the end of Dolly’s professional relationship with her longtime music partner, Porter Wagoner. It was not a romance song; it was never intended to be. It was a resignation letter. It is a young woman telling a man who built her career that she is going, that she is grateful, and that she will always love him, regardless of how he takes the news. Listen to it again with that in your head and every line changes. She was attempting to care for a man who had launched her career. After Dolly sang the song, Wagoner cried and told her it was the best song she had ever written. Even so, things didn’t end well.
Wagoner sued her; the lawsuit was bitter. Eventually Dolly paid Wagoner a million dollars, something Dolly said took her years to pay off. The song did not settle things the way the story usually gets told or how Dolly had hoped it would. Wagoner was less than kind to Dolly speaking bitterly about her in the press. Their relationship stayed strained for years afterward. And then they repaired it. They would work their way back to something genuine. She spoke about him with warmth and genuine compassion, never attempting to write him out of her success story. She never forgot her beginnings, either as a child or later professionally. Wagoner died in 2007. Dolly was close to him at the end. They talked that whatever had happened between them was forgiven. (Interview: Top Five People in Dolly’s life).
Dolly and Porter’s story ended in reconciliation, in a visit, in words of love spoken while there was still time to speak them. That’s what forgiveness makes possible — not a rewriting of the past, but a peace that lets you move forward without dragging old grievances behind you.
This is just one story that illustrates how Dolly lived out her faith and Christian ethics that she read about in what she referred to as The Good Book. “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” — Colossians 3:13
I wonder if people can tell by our living that we’re also reading that same book? I pray so.
Rev. Linda Harker, Pastor of Connections
