“If you see someone without a smile, give ’em yours.” — Dolly Parton
The world became a bit less magical. Dolly Parton died yesterday. I never knew her personally, and most of us didn’t. Still, she was one of those rare public figures who felt like family. For over sixty years, she was part of our lives. We heard her on the radio, saw her in movies and TV specials, laughed at her jokes, admired her voice, and enjoyed seeing her at awards shows, always sparkling with rhinestones that could almost distract passing planes.
She was one of the great songwriters and performers of our time. But her death feels personal because Dolly gave us more than music. She shared something of herself. There was a warmth about her, a generosity that made people feel welcome, even through a TV screen. She seemed truly happy to be alive and glad that we were here too.
Maybe that’s why people from all walks of life loved her. Country musicians and drag queens loved Dolly. Evangelical grandmothers and gay men loved Dolly. Appalachian families and Hollywood stars loved Dolly. People who might not sit together at Thanksgiving could still agree on Dolly Parton.
I wonder how she managed that. It wasn’t because she hid who she was or lacked strong beliefs. Dolly was deeply rooted in East Tennessee, her family, her Christian faith, country music, and the culture that shaped her. She never tried to smooth out her edges to please everyone. She just didn’t need others to be like her to care about them.
These days, many things push us to look at each other with suspicion. We put people into groups before we even know their names. We judge their goodness by their politics, religion, race, sexuality, nationality, or where they live. We’ve gotten too good at deciding who deserves our care.
Dolly didn’t live that way. She was always herself and made space for others to be themselves too.
She didn’t just talk about kindness. She put it into action. Dolly grew up as one of twelve children in a family with little money. Her father, Lee Parton, never learned to read or write, and Dolly said this embarrassed him all his life. She loved him deeply, and years later, after she became wealthy, she turned one of his biggest struggles into a gift for other children.
She began giving away books. The Imagination Library started in her home county in Tennessee, sending free books to young children no matter their family’s income. The idea grew far beyond what she first imagined. Soon, books were arriving every month in children’s mailboxes in many countries. By the end of last year, the program had given away over 300 million books. Today, somewhere, a parent will open a mailbox and find a book for their child because Dolly Parton lived.
Her generosity went far beyond books. She supported children’s hospitals and medical centers. When wildfires hit East Tennessee, she helped families who lost their homes. She also gave to medical research, including work that led to the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Much of her giving came from a simple idea: if you have something, find a way to share it.
Her nephew Bryan Seaver gave a beautiful description of her life yesterday. Dolly’s father had been a farmer. He farmed the soil. Dolly, Seaver said, “farmed songs and happiness.” It’s a wonderful way to describe a life well-lived.
All of us are farming something with our lives. Every conversation plants something in another person. The way we spend our money grows something. The stories we tell, the grudges we hold, the people we encourage, the institutions we support, the attention we give, and the kindness we show all become part of the field we leave behind. Over a lifetime, those small plantings add up.
Dolly’s field is enormous. Hundreds of millions of books sit on shelves because she lived. Children became readers because she remembered her father’s struggle. Musicians found courage because she opened doors. Families survived disasters because she shared what she had. Millions of people found comfort in her songs, and many others simply smiled when she walked onto a stage.
There is something spiritually meaningful in a life like that. Most of us will never have Dolly Parton’s money or platform. We will not record albums, build theme parks, or have our faces known around the world. But none of those things made her life generous. They just made her kindness reach more people. She paid attention to what she had and kept finding ways to share it.
Maybe that’s how we can tell if a life has been well lived. It’s not about how much we collect, but about how much life grows around us because we were here.
Today, though, I don’t want to rush to the lesson. Today, I just want to miss her. Grief deserves that much space.
When someone has brought beauty into the world for most of our lives, their absence changes things. We don’t need to have known them personally to feel it. Love has never cared much about those kinds of boundaries.
So today we can play her songs. We can laugh at her jokes. We can remember her big hair and those bright rhinestones. We can be grateful for a woman who was never embarrassed by where she came from and somehow made millions of people feel more comfortable being themselves. And we can feel sad. Grief is what happens when love suddenly has nowhere familiar to go.
Eventually, some of that love becomes gratitude. Some becomes memory. Some becomes imitation. We take whatever goodness another person’s life awakened in us and try to keep it moving through the world.
Dolly’s songs will keep playing. Her books will keep arriving in children’s mailboxes. Her generosity will keep moving through lives she will never see.
She spent eighty years planting. Now the field belongs to us. May she rest in peace. And when the grief softens enough for us to ask, maybe Dolly leaves us with one simple question:
What are we farming with our lives?
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
Who has made your life larger, kinder, or more joyful simply because they were in it? What did they plant in you?
When you look at the field of your own life—your relationships, work, generosity, words, and attention—what are you cultivating?
What is something you have been given that you could now pass along to someone else?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer For a Life Generously Given
Spirit of Love, Today we give thanks for Dolly. For the music and the laughter, the rhinestones and the stories, the books placed into children's hands, the families helped when disaster came, and the countless acts of generosity we will probably never know about. Thank you for the particular gift of her life. We grieve because something beautiful has left the world, and we are grateful because something beautiful was here. Hold those who loved her most closely: her family, her friends, her colleagues, and all those for whom this loss is not the death of an icon, but the absence of someone they knew and loved. And hold the rest of us too. Teach us not to be embarrassed by our grief simply because we never knew her personally. Some lives reach us from a distance. Some voices become companions. Some songs find their way into places in us that words alone cannot reach. May Dolly's memory be a blessing. And may her life remind us that generosity is never wasted. Help us notice what we have been given and become less afraid to give it away. May we plant joy where there is weariness, possibility where there is discouragement, welcome where there is loneliness, and kindness wherever the world has grown hard. When our own lives are finished, may something good still be growing because we were here. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Give Something Away
Dolly Parton’s life offers us a lovely spiritual practice for today: Give something away. Not something you no longer want. Give away something you value.
It doesn’t have to be money. Give someone an hour of your undivided attention. Give encouragement you’ve been meaning to offer. Give a book to a child. Give credit to someone whose work has gone unnoticed. Give a meal. Give forgiveness if you’re ready. Give someone the benefit of the doubt. Give a little more generously than is entirely comfortable.
Or, in Dolly’s honor, give someone a book.
There’s a beautiful connection there. Her father’s inability to read became one of the wounds Dolly carried from childhood. She could have simply grieved it. Instead, she transformed that grief into millions upon millions of books for other people’s children.
That is a particular kind of spiritual alchemy: taking something that hurt and refusing to let pain have the final word.
So you might ask yourself today: Is there something painful in my own story that could become a gift for someone else?
You don’t have to resolve it. You certainly don’t have to pretend the pain was somehow necessary or good. But perhaps some compassion has grown there. Some wisdom. Some tenderness toward people who struggle in ways you now understand. Give a little of that away.
Then tonight, listen to a Dolly song. Pour something you enjoy, turn up the volume, and let yourself miss her.
Grief needs ritual. Sometimes the ritual is a candle. Sometimes it’s prayer. And sometimes, thank God, it’s “Jolene” played much too loudly.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
My team and I launched a new experiment we are calling “The Commons.” It’s an online space centered around communities of practice: groups of people who share a common concern, set of problems, or passion for a topic, and deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis. Join the community here.
September 1, 2026, 12:30-1:30pmET - Book Club in The Commons - FREE - We are reading our next book, “I Eat The Stars” by Sarah Wilson. We will meet each Tuesday for 6 weeks. It’s such great fun. I hope you will be a part. All are welcome! RSVP HERE.
September 8, 2026, 12:30 - 1:30pm ET, ONLINE EVENT with NY Times Best-Selling author and journalist, Sarah Wilson!!! Sarah has just published her latest book I Eat The Stars: How to Live Fully and Beautifully in a Collapsing World. Join us for this one hour conversation where we will talk with Sarah about how we face collapse, how we find beauty and who we can become in these challenging times. Scholarships are available. REGISTER HERE.
September 8, 2026, 7-9pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - I’ll be hosting a powerful online gathering on The Black Madonna: Sacred Wisdom for a World in Crisis with Matthew Fox, Alessandra Belloni, and Christena Cleveland. We will explore the Black Madonna as a symbol of resilience, liberation, sacred feminine wisdom, and healing in a fractured world through conversation, story, music, and spiritual reflection. If you feel drawn toward a deeper encounter with the Divine Feminine and the ancient traditions that continue to nourish movements for justice and wholeness, I hope you’ll join us. Learn more and REGISTER HERE.
September 14, 7-8:30pm ET ONLINE EVENT - I’m delighted to share that Dr. Margaret Wheatley is releasing a newly updated edition of her beloved book Perseverance: A Companion for the Journey this October. Written for those committed to serving the world with compassion in difficult times, the book offers daily wisdom and practical guidance for navigating grief, anger, exhaustion, and uncertainty while remaining rooted in love, courage, and presence. Meg and I will be in conversation to explore what perseverance looks like in this moment of history and how we can sustain ourselves for the long work ahead. I hope you’ll join us for what promises to be a deeply meaningful conversation. REGISTER HERE.
September 17, 2026, 7-8:45pm ET - I will be joining Jackie Sussman for an online session on practicing eidetics as a part of our “Reclaiming the Power of Imagination” monthly series. Eidetic Imagery is a powerful tool for pastors, denominational leaders, coaches, and spiritual directors working with others, and for individuals seeking deeper integration and healing in their own lives. Jackie is a psychotherapist, author, and leading expert in Eidetic Image Psychology, and has spent over forty years helping leaders and individuals unlock creativity, uncover hidden strengths, and move through limiting patterns. During this session, she will lead a live Eidetic process shaped by mythic imagery, offering a direct experience of the work. REGISTER HERE.
October 6, 2026 - 7-8:30pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - Matthew Fox and I are teaming up again to launch a series called Journeying with the Mystics. The mystics have always emerged in times of uncertainty. They appear when old certainties are crumbling, when institutions no longer provide easy answers, and when people find themselves longing for a deeper experience of the Sacred. Join us for an 18-session exploration of the teachings of St. John of the Cross, Thomas Merton, Hildegard of Bingen, Kabir and Rumi, Meister Eckhart and more. This is more than a lecture series. It is an invitation into a living spiritual journey. REGISTER for the first session HERE!
October 18-21, 2026 - PREACH! 2026 Conference- I’ll be co-hosting PREACH in Minneapolis with Church Anew, a new gathering for preachers, storytellers, worship leaders, and spiritual communicators navigating what it means to speak with clarity, compassion, and courage in a changing world. If you’ve sensed that the preaching moment has changed and are longing for thoughtful community and renewed imagination for this work, I hope you’ll join us.
November 10, 7-8:30pm ET - I’ll be joined by theologian, writer, and professor Dr. Debra Rienstra for a special ONLINE conversation on Refugia Faith. In ecology, refugia are small places where life survives amid disruption, pockets of resilience from which life can eventually regenerate and spread. Debra invites us to consider what this might mean spiritually in an age of climate instability, political turmoil, institutional decline, and profound uncertainty. What if our congregations, communities, relationships, and even our own lives could become refugia, places where courage, compassion, beauty, wisdom, and possibility are protected and cultivated for whatever comes next? I hope you’ll join us for this timely and deeply hopeful conversation. REGISTRATION COMING SOON!
Fun Things My Friends Are Up To…
I get to work with such amazing, creative people. This section is my way of celebrating them—no paid promotions, just joy in what they’re creating.
My dear friend, Rev. Shawna Bowman has just launched a new podcast with musician Jennifer Knapp called “My Wise Friend Podcast.” They talk about it this way: “You might know Jennifer from her years as a touring musician and songwriter, weaving stories and songs together across the country. You might know Shawna from their work as an artist, speaker, and community leader exploring the intersection of spirituality, justice, and creativity. While our daily work looks different, we share a deep love for real talk, deep questions, and finding wisdom in unexpected places.” I am so excited about this! I hope you will check it out and support them. https://www.patreon.com/cw/mywisefriendpodcast
I’m delighted to celebrate the upcoming release of Wisdom Church: Abundant Life for Aging Congregations by my colleague, Rev. Dr. Anna Hall. Rather than seeing aging congregations as communities in decline, Anna invites us to recognize them as communities rich with wisdom, purpose, and possibility. Her book offers a hopeful vision for moving beyond anxiety about the future and embracing the unique gifts of older adults as beloved children of God. If your congregation is navigating these questions, this is a resource well worth reading. You can preorder the Kindle edition now, with delivery on August 17: https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Church-Abundant-Aging-Congregations-ebook/dp/B0HBXGYTWC
Starting again on September 7 for every Monday, 12pm ET - ONLINE WRITING GROUP - My dear friend, Meryl Marshall-Daniels, is leading a writing group open to all. This is a simple and spacious writing circle for people who want time to listen inwardly and put words on the page without overthinking, performing, or polishing. Meryl offers a prompt designed to invite reflection, imagination, and attunement to what is already alive within you. The practice honors writing as a way of listening, of letting images, memories, questions, and insights surface in their own time. Learn more here.
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.
The trees of life that she planted will forever yield the fruit of goodness. We have known and been loved by the tree; may we go and plant likewise.
THANK YOU.