Daily Devotional

My heart, O God, is steadfast;
I will sing and make music with all my soul.
Awake, harp and lyre!

Few conversations in the Gospels are more interesting than the one between Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman. (Mark 7:24-30) In this conversation, there are theological arguments, cultural struggles, and name-calling. It would even seem that the Syrophoenician woman wins the argument against Jesus.

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.

The summer of 1975, I was eleven years old, sitting front row center at the Royal Theater in Pauls Valley when “Jaws” came to town. The lights went down. That low, patient bass line started. And for the next two hours I learned that the ocean — which I’d only ever thought of as something to swim in — was also something that could hide whatever it wanted from you, for as long as it wanted, until it decided to stop hiding.

How can we be a light in the world? How do we follow the way of Jesus? We’re told the greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. But being human is hard, and Jesus knows this. He teaches in parables that can seem straightforward yet often hold deeper truths than we first perceive.

Susan Boyle is a Scottish singer who came to fame in a most unusual way. At the age of 48, she took a risk and auditioned on the show, Britain’s Got Talent. Susan was nervous about stepping onto such a large stage. When she walked onto the stage, she was facing a massive crowd who had gathered in the 3,000-capacity auditorium. Not only was it a full audience, but the T.V. lights were also bright, and sitting in the front row were the infamous Britain’s Got Talent judges.

While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and besought him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And he stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. And he charged him to tell no one; but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.”

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

In 2015, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton: An American Musical debuted on Broadway. It is a cutting-edge musical that combined hip-hop and classical Broadway music and dance. From the moment it debuted, it has been both a critical and popular success. It won a record-setting 11 Tony Awards in 2016. It has played around the world and continues to run on Broadway today. It is one of the most successful shows in Broadway history.

Like many of you, I am saddened by Dolly Parton’s death. She was a true American treasure. Few people have achieved the level of success that Dolly Parton has attained.