QUARANTINE BLOG # 360

March 25, 2021

All right, everyone, put your elbows on your hips like you are trying to hold your pants up, bite your lower lip (gently) and wrinkle your nose.  Now say, “You dirty rat!”  There you have it.  A perfect imitation of James Cagney as a gangster, and with that we begins a look at some famous infamous characters, and the law enforcement agents from those times.

The 1920s and 1930s were a time of rising crime, driven at first by Prohibition and then taking on a life of its own. The 1930s was a period of famous gangsters such as John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, Machine Gun Kelly, and Ma Barker.

Alphonse Gabriel Capone, sometimes known by the nickname “Scarface” (from a bar brawl when he was 18 years old) attained notoriety as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit.  His seven-year reign as a crime boss ended when he went to prison at the age of 33.

Capone joined the Five Points Gang (in New York City) as a teenager and became a bouncer in organized crime premises such as brothels.  In his early twenties, he moved to Chicago and became a bodyguard for Johnny Torrio, head of a criminal syndicate that supplied bootleg alcohol.  Torrio went into retirement after North Side gunmen almost killed him, handing control to Capone.  Capone’s mutually profitable relationships with mayor William Hale Thompson and the city’s police meant he seemed safe from law enforcement.

Unemployed men outside a soup kitchen opened by Capone in Chicago during the Depression, February 1931.

After the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, February 14, 1929, in which seven gang rivals were murdered in broad daylight, damaged the public image of Chicago and Capone (although the gangster himself was in Florida at the time), leading influential citizens demanded government action and newspapers dubbed Capone “Public Enemy No.1.”

He was convicted of five counts of tax evasion in 1931, and sentenced to 11 years in federal prison, plus fined $50,000 and charged $7,692 for court costs, in addition to $215,000 plus interest due on back taxes.  

Capone’s cell # 181 in Alcatraz.

On November 16, 1939, Al Capone was released, having paid all fines and back taxes. He never returned to Chicago.  In 1946, a psychiatrist concluded Capone had the mentality of a 12-year-old child, brought on by syphilis.  Capone resided on Palm Island, Florida with his wife and immediate family, in a secluded atmosphere, until his death due to a stroke and pneumonia on January 25, 1947.

Capone’s grave in Mount Carmel Cemetery, Hillside, Illinois.

👉  From 9 Chickweed Lane, Juliette and her daughter, Edda, discuss fashion:

👉  Naps are great.  From The Lockhorns a new reason for napping.

👉  A piece of the Wright brothers’ first airplane is on Mars.  NASA’s experimental Martian helicopter holds a small swatch of fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer.  The helicopter, named Ingenuity, was part of the Perseverance rover, which arrived last month.  Ingenuity will attempt the first powered, controlled flight on another planet in early April.  The Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio, the Wrights’ hometown, donated the postage-size piece of muslin from the plane’s bottom left wing, at NASA’s request.

👉  Billed as the world’s most expensive Volvo wagon, a dark blue New York-based V70 is currently for sale for $20 million – and probably will be for some time.  What makes the car special, according to the ad, is the New York state vanity plate that reads “NEW YORK.”  The ad says “the one-of-a-kind license plate is completely transferable to its new owner and can be placed on most vehicles.”  Trouble is, the DMV says, “The new owner must apply for a new vehicle registration, vehicle plates and a title certificate.”  So whoever buys that Volvo might end up with just a very expensive used Volvo wagon.  Caveat emptor.

👉  Before we close, let’s look at the history behind a hymn that has been called the “National Anthem of Christendom.”  The November 1799, issue of The Gospel Magazine printed “On the Resurrection, the Lord is King,” by Reverend Edward Perronet.  One of the most interesting stories told about the influence of this hymn concerns Rev. E. P. Scott, missionary to India.  Several days after he set off into dangerous territory to meet a local tribe, he met a large party of warriors, armed with spears, who surrounded him.  Expecting to die at any moment, Scott took out his violin, breathed a prayer, and began singing, in the tribe’s language, “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name!”  When he reached the words, “Let every kindred, every tribe,” he opened his eyes, and every spear was lowered.  Scott spent the next two years evangelizing the tribe.  Here is First Baptist Church of Dallas worshipping with “All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name.”

👉  Sit There and Grow

Let’s return again today to that little house and family in Bethany that was so welcoming to Jesus.

“Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him” (John 12:1-2 NKJV).

You might imagine that by sitting at the table Lazarus did nothing, but the people came to see Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead.  The initial attraction was not Jesus, but his friend.  The crowd wanted to see if the story was real.  Was this former dead man, now sitting at a meal, eating and drinking?  Was he carrying on conversations?  Was he really alive?  Was he really changed?

John does not tell us what Lazarus did, and perhaps all he did was sit there and eat and fellowship with Jesus.  And that’s the whole point of where we are going today.  There are some Christians who because of illness, or where they live, or for any number of other reasons are not able to do very much – outwardly, visibly – in the way of Christian ministry and testimony.  But there they are with Jesus!  And whenever a change is announced, when there is something new to be seen, people will come to see if it is true.  That is when this Christian, limited by circumstances beyond his or her control, can be an attraction for the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is an incredible moment in The Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus points at some flowers and says, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin” (Matthew 6:28).  And that’s all that they can do – sit there and grow!  But oh, the beauty of their petals, the sweet smell created within the petals where essential oils are stored, combine, and evaporate into the air.  Just so the sinner transformed, being close to the Lord giving praise to him simply by being beautiful and unconsciously shedding the perfume of his love which he gives to the redeemed.

You say you can’t do much for Jesus?  Just sit there and let your light shine!  And maybe sing along with Caleb Serrano.

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