One of the themes I have stressed throughout my writing is the importance of living in the moment, while recognizing and giving God praise for His benevolence and the blessings He has given us. As we enter what I call the “last third” of our lives, it becomes even more important to understand that time is a gift. We can plan for tomorrow, but we can only live today. That lesson was brought home to me rather forcefully this past week. After a bout of diarrhea, I became severel

This is the third and last post on thoughts about Dolly Parton and what we can all learn from her. Suddenly, the career that occupied 40 or 50 years of our lives is no longer there. The title is gone. The office is gone. The paycheck may be smaller or gone altogether. The question becomes: Now what? Perhaps the answer isn't simply to stop working. Perhaps it is to change what we are working for. Your first act may have been about building your career, your business, your fami

This is the second of three posts on Dolly Parton where I explore how she took her passions and made them real for so many people. In 1986, she became involved with a struggling theme park in Tennessee and transformed it into Dollywood. The park became a major tourist destination and an important source of employment and economic activity for the region. She wasn't simply writing checks to help her hometown. She was creating opportunities. And her giving didn't stop there. Sh

This post is being published in three parts because the thought behind it took that long to fully develop it. I hope you enjoy the first post and come back to reading it to its end. Dolly Parton died on August 25, 2026, at the age of 80, leaving behind a legacy that will be difficult to match. But when we think about Dolly Parton, we shouldn't think only about the music. Yes, she became one of the most successful entertainers in history. She was a songwriter, singer, actress,