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Morning Meditation
August 27, 2026
Reading: John 7:16-18
Then Jesus answered them, ‘My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.
Meditation-Rebecca Northington
It is challenging for me to consider any text in the shadow of Dolly Parton’s death without reading into it the love that she offered the world. Truth be told, I am not a huge country music person, nor a dedicated Dolly Parton fan. But today’s lectionary text and this Romans text for this Sunday, reveal the kind of wisdom we should seek and the love we should offer.
Romans 13:8: “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law”.
Countless news feeds, publications and broadcasts are noting the unifying character of this celebrity. She went home, she gave back, possibly to the tune of half a billion some speculate, half of her life’s earnings. She shared her warmth and love and humility with anyone and everyone who crossed her path. I believe she sought the glory of God as so many of her lyrics communicate, and she herself attested in many an interview:
"I never let go of that," she said of the belief that God had a purpose for her life. "I always felt responsible to God that I was supposed to be doing something for God. I still feel like that, and I'm still doing it, trying to."
"Every day I pray for God to lead me and to take out all the wrong things, wrong people in my life, and bring all the right things, right people, and to let me glorify Him and uplift mankind, to do something in this world to make it a little better than it was, And let me be a light and a vessel to be used."
“I always thought if you see someone without a smile, just give’em yours.”
“I always count my blessings more than I count my money.”
Simple and beautiful mantras. Ones that express gratitude, humility, generosity and love.
The world mourns this kind of love, yearns for this kind of love; and yet we strive individually and collectively for rules, grades, achievements, judgment, and punishment. Do we ask God for the strength to love one another? Do we seek out opportunities to serve those the world does not see?
I think we all need to be very honest about the role our faith plays in our lives. Is it central? Does it direct our every moment and day to day? Do we look for teachers and leaders who humbly serve, or do we follow “those who speak on their own” and “seek their own glory”? Because we get to choose. Jesus asked us to choose Love. I think Dolly chose, and that will be her legacy. What will be yours?
https://youtu.be/A3_43tABY34?si=aprAUk-E4yhGV_d6
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
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