Few people are destined to become a North Star, like the Rev. William "Bill" Lawson. He was a guiding light for many in Houston and across the nation as the founder of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church and a champion of civil rights.

He reminded us, gently, that people are inherently good and that it's possible to change their hearts. He showed that it can happen peacefully.

Lawson died at home comforted by his family who were the center of his life, along with his deep faith in God. He would have turned 96 in June.

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LAWSON'S IMPACT: The Rev. Bill Lawson, a Houston civil rights icon who helped desegregate the city, dies at 95

It's hard to tell if our destinies are set in stone at birth or part of some evolving master plan as we mature. Lawson frequently noted that he wanted to be a cartoonist, not a pastor. He even had a silk-screen T-shirt company once. But becoming a preacher was a calling, like a soft, persistent voice ushering him toward the pulpit.

Lawson started the church in the living room of his Blodgett Street apartment in Third Ward. He ministered about God and how faith could guide us to be better humans alongside his longtime wife and college sweetheart Audrey Hoffman Lawson, who died in 2015. They had four children.

I still can't imagine that he knew that his........

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