Creating, collecting, and sharing thoughts and ideas. And learning along the way.
We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.
– Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Updated March 9, 2012, 1:28 pm
On March 10, 1985, Konstantin U. Chernenko, Soviet leader for just 13 months, died at age 73. His death was announced on March 11th. Politburo member Mikhail S. Gorbachev was chosen to succeed him.
On March 10, 1903, Clare Boothe Luce, the American playwright and politician, was born. Following her death on Oct. 9, 1987, her obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1496 Christopher Columbus concluded his second visit to the Western Hemisphere as he left Hispaniola for Spain. 1629 England’s King Charles I dissolved Parliament. 1785 Thomas Jefferson was appointed minister to France, succeeding Benjamin Franklin. 1848 The Senate ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the war with Mexico. 1864 Ulysses S. Grant became commander of the Union armies during the Civil War. 1957 Terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia. 1965 Neil Simon’s play “The Odd Couple” opened on Broadway. 1969 James Earl Ray pleaded guilty in Memphis, Tenn., to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. 1980 “Scarsdale Diet” author Dr. Herman Tarnower was shot to death in Purchase, N.Y. (His lover, Jean Harris, was convicted of murder and served nearly 12 years in prison.) 1985 Konstantin Chernenko, Soviet leader for just 13 months, died at age 73. 1993 Dr. David Gunn was shot to death outside a Pensacola, Fla., abortion clinic. 1997 “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” debuted on the WB network. 2002 Israeli helicopters destroyed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s office in Gaza City, hours after 11 Israelis were killed in a suicide bombing in a cafe across the street from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s residence in Jerusalem. 2004 Teenage sniper Lee Boyd Malvo was sentenced in Chesapeake, Va., to life in prison. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Country singer Carrie Underwood (“American Idol”) turns 29 years old today.
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
Actor Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”) turns 41 years old today.
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
1933 Ralph Emery, Talk show host, turns 79 1940 Chuck Norris, Actor (“Walker, Texas Ranger”), turns 72 1940 David Rabe, Writer, producer, turns 72 1940 Dean Torrence, Singer (Jan and Dean), turns 72 1947 Bob Greene, Newspaper columnist, turns 65 1947 Tom Scholz, Rock musician (Boston), turns 65 1953 Paul Haggis, Director, screenwriter (“Crash”), turns 59 1957 Shannon Tweed, Actress, turns 55 1958 Sharon Stone, Actress, turns 54 1962 Jasmine Guy, Actress, turns 50 1964 Prince Edward, Member of the British royal family, turns 48 1965 Rod Woodson, Football Hall of Famer, turns 47 1969 Paget Brewster, Actress (“Criminal Minds”), turns 43 1972 Timbaland, Rapper, producer, turns 40 1977 Shannon Miller, Olympic gold medal gymnast, turns 35 1977 Robin Thicke, Singer, turns 35 1984 Olivia Wilde, Actress (“House M.D.”), turns 28 1992 Emily Osment, Actress (“Hannah Montana”), turns 20
Historic Birthdays
Clare Boothe Luce 3/10/1903 – 10/9/1987 American playwright and politician.Go to obituary »
34 Thos. Howard Norfolk 3/10/1538 – 6/2/1572
English nobleman executed by Queen Elizabeth I56 Friedrich von Schlegel 3/10/1772 – 1/12/1829
German writer and critic49 Alexander III 3/10/1845 – 11/1/1894
Russian emperor (1881-84)75 Henry W. Fowler 3/10/1858 – 12/26/1933
English lexicographer and philologist75 Hector Guimard 3/10/1867 – 5/20/1942
French architect and furniture designer73 Lillian Wald 3/10/1867 – 9/1/1940
American nurse; founded Henry St. Settlement in New York28 Bix Beiderbecke 3/10/1903 – 8/6/1931
American jazz cornetist and composer63 Harry Bertoia 3/10/1915 – 11/6/1978
Italian-born American sculptor and designer70 James Earl Ray 3/10/1928 – 4/23/1998
American assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
MORNING
“Sin … exceeding sinful.”
Romans 7:13Beware of light thoughts of sin. At the time of conversion, the conscience is so tender, that we are afraid of the slightest sin. Young converts have a holy timidity, a godly fear lest they should offend against God. But alas! very soon the fine bloom upon these first ripe fruits is removed by the rough handling of the surrounding world: the sensitive plant of young piety turns into a willow in after life, too pliant, too easily yielding. It is sadly true, that even a Christian may grow by degrees so callous, that the sin which once startled him does not alarm him in the least. By degrees men get familiar with sin. The ear in which the cannon has been booming will not notice slight sounds. At first a little sin startles us; but soon we say, “Is it not a little one?” Then there comes another, larger, and then another, until by degrees we begin to regard sin as but a little ill; and then follows an unholy presumption: “We have not fallen into open sin. True, we tripped a little, but we stood upright in the main. We may have uttered one unholy word, but as for the most of our conversation, it has been consistent.” So we palliate sin; we throw a cloak over it; we call it by dainty names. Christian, beware how thou thinkest lightly of sin. Take heed lest thou fall by little and little. Sin, a little thing? Is it not a poison? Who knows its deadliness? Sin, a little thing? Do not the little foxes spoil the grapes? Doth not the tiny coral insect build a rock which wrecks a navy? Do not little strokes fell lofty oaks? Will not continual droppings wear away stones? Sin, a little thing? It girded the Redeemer’s head with thorns, and pierced his heart! It made him suffer anguish, bitterness, and woe. Could you weigh the least sin in the scales of eternity, you would fly from it as from a serpent, and abhor the least appearance of evil. Look upon all sin as that which crucified the Saviour, and you will see it to be “exceeding sinful.”
EVENING
“Thou shalt be called, Sought out.”
Isaiah 62:12The surpassing grace of God is seen very clearly in that we were not only sought, but sought out. Men seek for a thing which is lost upon the floor of the house, but in such a case there is only seeking, not seeking out. The loss is more perplexing and the search more persevering when a thing is sought out. We were mingled with the mire: we were as when some precious piece of gold falls into the sewer, and men gather out and carefully inspect a mass of abominable filth, and continue to stir and rake, and search among the heap until the treasure is found. Or, to use another figure, we were lost in a labyrinth; we wandered hither and thither, and when mercy came after us with the gospel, it did not find us at the first coming, it had to search for us and seek us out; for we as lost sheep were so desperately lost, and had wandered into such a strange country, that it did not seem possible that even the Good Shepherd should track our devious roamings. Glory be to unconquerable grace, we were sought out! No gloom could hide us, no filthiness could conceal us, we were found and brought home. Glory be to infinite love, God the Holy Spirit restored us!
The lives of some of God’s people, if they could be written would fill us with holy astonishment. Strange and marvellous are the ways which God used in their case to find his own. Blessed be his name, he never relinquishes the search until the chosen are sought out effectually. They are not a people sought today and cast away to-morrow. Almightiness and wisdom combined will make no failures, they shall be called, “Sought out!” That any should be sought out is matchless grace, but that we should be sought out is grace beyond degree! We can find no reason for it but God’s own sovereign love, and can only lift up our heart in wonder, and praise the Lord that this night we wear the name of “Sought out.”
