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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost
September 1, 2026
Reading: John 12:24-25
Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Maya Angelou, When Great Trees Fall
When great souls die, the air around us becomes slight, rare, sterile. We breathe, briefly. Our eyes, briefly, see with a hurtful clarity. Our memory, suddenly sharpened, examines, gnaws on kind words unsaid, promised walks never taken.
And when great souls die, after a period peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly. Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us. They existed. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed.
Meditation by Glenn Beamer
I have resisted writing a meditation about Dolly Parton’s passing –the Instagrams, the Youtubes, and Facebook are inundated with tributes, and appropriately so. I can’t add much to the many accolades recently given. Thus, I will share three observations and recommend reflecting on and enjoying the US Naval Academy Glee Club’s 2021 rendition of Dolly Parton’s Clear Blue Morning.
There are three perceptions about Dolly Parton that connect with Jesus’ commendation that “Anyone who loves their life with lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” These are 1) Dolly Parton comprehended her dream that would enable her to love her life on earth, 2) Dolly did not reject the rewards of her work, she stewarded them in disciplined channels, and 3) beyond her place now with God in heaven, Dolly Parton’s life on earth will remain transcendent.
In a 1979 interview, Barbara Walter apparently forgot she was the interviewer and took it upon herself to suggest to Dolly Parton that she could change her appearance and demeanor so that people would take her seriously. Dolly Parton replied,
Once they (the public) get past the shock of the ridiculous way I looked…they would see there was parts of me to be appreciated. I’m very real where it counts and that’s on the inside…as far as my outlook on life and the way I care about people and the way I care about myself.
Many of the tributes to Dolly Parton emphasize her humble beginnings as one of twelve children living in a 2-room house coupled with her substantial philanthropy. Dolly Parton was generous, but she understood how to develop her wealth and couple it with beneficence. Her Imagination Library was born of her experience with her father’s illiteracy. When she talked about her father’s illiteracy she didn’t frame it as a failing that left the family poor. She talked about how her dad was an incredibly talented and intelligent father, and how his illiteracy limited his contributions to his family and community.
Dolly Parton’s music was genuinely transcendent. As Maya Angelou writes, “And when great souls die, after a period peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly. Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration.” For meditation this week, I’d like to suggest connecting to the link below. Michael Diorio and I shared this video 5 years ago and were taken with how powerfully the midshipmen performed Dolly Parton’s music. Although the midshipmen’s rendition contrasted with Dolly Parton’s more typical upbeat tempo and style, it nevertheless creates the soothing electric vibration Maya Angelou writes about.
US Naval Academy Rendition of Dolly Parton's Light of a Clear Blue Morning
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