“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
— Matthew 5:16. 

There is good on earth. Sometimes it arrives in grand acts of courage or generosity. Sometimes it comes through a song playing from an 8-track tape in the back seat of a white Mercury Cougar.

Dolly, I miss you already.

In the 1970s, my dad had a white Mercury Cougar with an 8-track cartridge player. As a teenager, I would ride in the back seat, lean forward, and push the Cream of the Crop 8-track into the player to hear the top hits. Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors was my favorite.

It was good. Not merely entertaining, but a beautiful kind of good—kalos (καλός), the word Jesus uses in Matthew 5:16 for “good works.” It conveys a sense of something beautiful, noble, excellent, and worthy of admiration.

That little Psalm-like ballad about a ragged coat begins in the valley of poverty and vulnerability but rises into a declaration of abundance and praise. “Back through the years I go wonderin’ once again…” and suddenly we are wondering with her, sitting beside a little girl whose mother is stitching scraps of cloth together with love. 

The climax of the song has always struck me as an image of grace. Surrounded by mocking classmates. Dolly does not answer with contempt. Instead, she tries to give them another way of seeing. They see rags; she sees riches. They see poverty; she sees love. 

She wrote songs and sang them. She gave generously. She made people laugh and was willing to laugh at herself. She turned heartache, poverty, mistakes, love, and human imperfection into music. What a way to make a livin’. The Spirit fills and operates to reveal His glory. Her music was pure pleasure, a good work that glorified. 

I Will Always Love You, Dolly. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, We are rich as we can be in the coat of grace you have sewed for us. May we wear it gladly into the world. Thank You for lives that teach us to recognize what is beautiful, generous, lovely, and good. Make our own lives kalos—good works that shine beyond ourselves and ultimately point to You. Amen.