The World Stood Still for Dolly Parton--Please Not for Me!

I read headlines from Epoch Times nearly every day, and recently they have included news about the death of Dolly Parton, "Queen of Country Music." President Trump even ordered flags to be flown half mast for a whole week for her! Well, indeed! 

Since I don't watch TV or listen as a rule to country music, I barely recognized her name. (I know, I'm dreadfully out of touch.)

At first I snorted and snuffed, but then I got curious. 

I read article after article, post after post--by grieving fans to sarcastic critics to the President's comments. Dolly was not just famous but much loved. She obviously related to many people, and is there anything I can learn from her? Or what would the Lord like me to think as I ponder about the widespread mourning of her passing?

Upon reading various articles and thoughts about Dolly, (she met her husband just out of high school while she was at a laundromat!) I do not agree with everything she has said, sung, and done in her life, and, since I listen very little to country music, I don't know that I have ever even once in my life heard her sing. But I ponder her influence and have read a few articles about her and read a few of her most beloved lyrics in the last few days such as "Coat of Many Colors," about the patchwork coat her mother sewed for her when she was young (incredibly touching and gently triumphant). She composed hundreds of songs. With some of those in mind, and yet with the anchor of God's unchanging Word also in mind, ( here is an article I liked regarding how to exercise discernment about Dolly Parton's influence:   https://answersingenesis.org/blogs/ken-ham/2026/09/01/lesson-dolly-partons-passing/

I wrote my own frail little poem. Here it is. 

Ponderings about a Kentucky Gal Who (for better or for worse) wrote songs from the heart that touched millions of people

The World Stood Still for Dolly

The world that stopped for Dolly

Has been a sphere less jolly

Remembering all that this gal had come to be.

She came from a Kentucky holler,

Full of both pride and squalor,

And kept that love throughout her life, you see. 

She dreamed and sang, she dared and died,

And when she did, the world cried,

For Dolly was a winner in their book.

She made top hits one after another,

Made proud her father and her mother,

And the world stood still when Dolly left her nook.

Even flags were lowered

And people online clustered,

Tributes to speak for Dolly and her ways. 

An icon in the country, 

"Big hair" that wooed the gentry, 

And news is full of Dolly every day. 

I'm not a Dolly Parton, 

Roosevelt, or Clara Barton,

I'm not a woman with any fancy name.

I'm not the wife of a president,

Or a country singer who's done her stent,

I'm not on any Music's Hall of Fame. 

I'm not even a nurse or teacher, 

Or cheerleader in the bleachers,

Nor secretary to a crabby, ornery boss.

I'm not a barrel rider

Or a legend with songs inside 'er,

Or even one who rides an old gray hoss. 

But the little world I live in

I hope will keep on goin'

When I leave my bit o' work and verse behind. 

I hope tears will stop flowin'

With all my world a'knowin' 

Where this old gal her last few steps has climbed. 

Whether from Kentucky holler

Or a Pennsylvania daughter,

Around each one of us a little world revolves. 

May our lives make it a bit sweeter

As we sing and smile and greet 'er 

And help at least some of its problems kindly solve. 

I am not a famous Dolly,

And I've done my share of folly,

But I know Who my All-great Forgiver is,

And when my road is finished,

My empty cup replenished,

I pray that world will fill with God's redeeming bliss. 

--Anna Lucas