Spending time out and about with U.S. Congressman Lewis and the Rev. C.T. Vivian was to watch the beloved community in action. Everyone was star-struck with the possibility of touching history. They would yell from afar, run to get near, and bustle around them with the joy of being in the company of goodness. Greeting these extraordinary figures is as close as most of us would come to touching “the arc of the moral universe.”
Among my fondest memories of running for the U.S. Senate was picking up C.T. Vivian for lunch at Paschal’s. He came bounding out of his garage, which was packed to the brim with thousands of his books, energetic and cheerful as ever. He was an intellectual, ignited by passion, guided by faith, and propelled by action. He carried genuine kindness, with his prophetic voice, a wry smile, a wonderful laugh, and a literal “twinkle” in his eye.