Yesterday at St. James’s, Harvey Cox was our guest preacher as part of a sermon series on the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. Cox first met King in 1956 and they became friends while worked together during Civil Rights Movement. Cox spoke movingly of the central role faith played in King’s life and work, and described the profound effect King had on his life.

I particularly appreciated learning more about King as real person, someone who was able to laugh at his own pretensions and who would host vigorous pillow fights in his hotel room at the end of long day of non-violent resistance. Just before King was killed, Cox recalled knocking on his hotel room to be greeted by King with disheveled hair and pillow feathers covering his shoulders. This would be Cox’s last image of King, and he felt there was no better way to remember this great man.