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Tonight we come in our study to Hebrews, chapter 11, verses 20 to 22. And we're gonna see what the Spirit of God will teach us here in this brief passage about the faith which defeats death. In this 11thchapter we've been talking quite a bit about the subject of faith. It's not really a subject that we can belabor because it's one which the Spirit of God calls to our attention repeatedly in order that we might be reminded of it. We ought to live by faith. And we come tonight to verses 20, 21 and 22, which deal with faith in the face of death. Matthew Henry said, "Though the grace of faith is of universal use throughout the Christian's life, yet it is especially so when we come to die. Faith has its great work to do at the very last, to help believers to finish well, to die for the Lord, so as to honor Him by patience, hope and joy, so as to leave a witness behind them of the truth of God's Word and the
excellency of His ways," end quote. Certainly, we would be reminded that God is greatly glorified when His people leave this world with their flag flying at full mast. If anybody should die triumphantly, it should be a believer. When the Spirit triumphs over the flesh, when the world is consciously and gladly left behind for Heaven, when there's anticipation in the soul and glory in the eye as we enter into the presence of the Lord, then we're dying as pleasing unto the Lord.
Now, here in this chapter on faith, the Holy Spirit presents to us three great examples of men who faced death with full faith. They hadn't always lived their lives full of faith. They had been intermittently faithful men and frequently, as we study their history in the book of Genesis, we will find them to be unfaithful. But at least when it was all said and done and they were making their exit; they exhibited great faith. And I really believe, people, that a God-given and a God-sustained faith is not only sufficient to enable even the feeblest saint to overcome the lust of the flesh, the attractions of the world and the temptations of Satan, but it is also able to give him triumphant passage through death. And yet it's amazing to me how many believers who say they have faith find it very difficult to face the issue of dying. Every Christian who has, in the main current of his life, walked with God in faith will find that the last hours of his life may be the sweetest hours of all. In Psalms 37, verse 37 says this: "Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." So it was with these men. Their life was a little cloudy and a little dingy and a little dim from time to time, but at least they went out basking in the sunlight of true faith.
Let's look at these verses. Let me read them to you. Verse 20: "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph, and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones." Now, as you read that passage you begin immediately to think how in the world could you ever get anything out of that. But there is so much material behind the scenes. The writer of Hebrews, of course, is writing to Jewish readers and they fill in the history themselves. They understand all the backlog. All you've got to say is, "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come," and they can stick the history in themselves. Unfortunately, we can't do that so perhaps we need to spend a little bit more time entertaining what this is all about.
The point that the writer wants to get across is that all these men died never having seen the fulfillment of God's promise. And so they passed it on to their children by faith. You'll remember that God had appeared to Abraham and basically in the Abrahamic covenant, promised three things. First, the possession of the land. God said, I'm gonna give you the land. Secondly, He promised Abraham that He would raise up seed and it would become a great nation. So, He promised him the land and a great nation. Thirdly, He said, through your seed, the world will be blessed. So that was the third dimension. Now, Abraham lived a full life and never saw any of those three things come to pass, not one of them. He died then in faith saying Isaac, you're gonna see the beginnings of these things. Isaac died in faith saying, Jacob, you're gonna see the beginning of these things. Jacob died in faith saying, Joseph, you're gonna see the beginning of these things. Joseph began to see those things, but really died in faith saying, Ephraim and Manasseh, you're gonna see the beginning of these things; and they did. And we have seen the fulfillment of these things. And so all of these men died never really seeing the fulfillment. It says in verse 13 if you back up, and it's talking there about Abraham and Isaac and Jacob...picking it up from verse 9...it says, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." So confident were they that they passed on the promises to their children. And that's exactly the point of their faith. In death they had seen nothing and yet they believed God that their children would see the fulfillment...why?...because God always kept His word and they believed it even though they never saw it. Abraham didn't see the fulfillment; he believed it would come. Isaac was still a nomad and a wanderer, but he believed it would come. Jacob was in exile in the land of Egypt, but he believed it would come. And Joseph had attained greatness, but his greatness was the greatness of a stranger in a foreign land. And yet they all, by faith, believed that God would fulfill the promise He made because they knew God was a covenant-keeping God. And so they died in faith. Not one of them ever doubted that the promise would come through. They didn't die in the despair of unfulfilled dreams. They didn't die saying, "Oh, it never came; it never came." They died saying, "It will come," because they believed God. They died, then, defeating death, knowing that they would die, but the promise of God could never die. Now, that's a magnificent kind of faith. If we could listen to their minds and hear their thoughts, perhaps we would hear something like this. God's promise of a people in this land is true, for God never breaks a promise. I may not live to see it, but it will come and I am a link in the chain of fulfillment, for that's what they felt.
So it is important then to establish these men as men of faith. In writing the book of Hebrews he wants to tell these Jewish people...mainly Jewish Christians, but also Jews who had intellectually assented to the gospel but never really believed it fully...he wants them to know that this faith principal of the new covenant is nothing new. So he goes back all the way to the beginning of history and shows how that every real man of God is a man of faith. See, the Jews had gotten into a works system. They believed they pleased God by their works. And so as they went back, in the history that they had to face, it was revealed to them that always it had been faith and never works. You'll never earn your way to Heaven. It can't be done. I always think of the little song I knew when I was a kid. You can't get to Heaven in a putt-putt car 'cause a putt-putt car won't putt that far (laughter). And I don't care what your putt-putt car is, you can't get to Heaven any other way than by faith. You never heard that? (Laughter) Well, we ran in pretty risqué circles. (Laughter). But anyway, no matter what commodities you put together to get to Heaven, you can't get there, not by the best possible works that you have to offer. You only get there by faith and that's the promise of the new covenant. And that's what he's trying to get across to these Jewish leaders in this little Jewish community, that the only way to please God is by faith, not works. And so he says, drop everything. Just believe God. Everybody else always has. And, of course, they always felt that they were tied into the tradition of their fathers and their fathers had all done it this way. And he takes the 11thchapter to prove that their fathers did it the right way...by faith. He starts out with Abel. And in Abel we saw the life of faith. Then went to Enoch...the walk of faith. Then Noah...the work of faith, obedience. Then Abraham...the pattern of faith and now we come to these three and we see faith that conquers death...the victory of faith. And these men were like sailors, you know. They were out on the sea in this ship and they could see the shore afar off and they could see it on the horizon and they looked at it and they never landed, but they saw it. And so they looked and they saw God's promise, but they never were able to really touch the shore.
And so, again, we enter on the of lesson faith. But let's face it, back in chapter 10, verse 38, he established the great principle, "the just shall live by faith." That's it. And that, incidentally, is a quote from Habakkuk, an Old Testament prophet, so nothing is new. Then in the 6thverse of chapter 11 at the very end...at the very beginning, I mean, it says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him." Faith is always and only the way a man apprehends God and salvation. Isn't is great? Isn't it great that you don't have to do some work? You think of the words of the apostle Paul that we're "saved by grace and that not of ourselves, not of works, lest any man should"...what?..."boast." We'd all be saying, well, I did this and I did that and God would not get the glory. So God just took it all apart, said there are no works involved; it's only a matter of believing. Faith alone, not with anything but faith alone brings a man into a real saving relationship with the loving, living God.
Now, these three men faced death with true faith and so they are great illustrations. Let's look first of all at Isaac. And I'm not really gonna preach at you. We're just gonna kind of wander through Genesis in a minute and see what comes to light in the various verses. But anyway, Isaac is in verse 20. "By faith Isaac,"...again, "by faith" is the commodity that's being sold in every one of these little vignettes through the 11thchapter..."By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come." Now, he never saw the things to come. By faith, he had the knowledge that they would come to pass. You see, he passed on the blessing to his children, knowing that God would bless, although he never saw the blessing. Abraham had been promised the land, the nation and the blessing to the world. He never saw it. He died as a foreigner. The only thing that Abraham ever owned was a plot of ground for a grave; that's all. But Abraham didn't die in despair; he died in hope and he passed on the promise to his son, Isaac. And he believed that Isaac would be the next step in the fulfillment of the promise. Well, now Isaac does the very same thing. He knew the principle of chapter 10, verse 23 where it says at the end of the verse, "For He is faithful that"...what?..."promised." He believed it.
Now, the writer here in verse 20 says very, very little about Isaac and the reason is because the readers would be so very familiar with him. Since we're not Jewish scholars, we'll look back a little bit at him. It's interesting, however, that Isaac lived longer than any of the four patriarchs. And yet though he lived the longest life, the very least is written about him. Of the other patriarchs, there is about 12 chapters apiece, and of this man there is a condensed story in just two chapters, Genesis 26 and 27, with a few other references in other chapters. And I guess the reason is that Isaac was perhaps the least spectacular of any of them. He was very ordinary. He was rather passive, kind of willy-nilly, mousy, just kind of a, what you might say the unspectacular son of a spectacular father and the unspectacular father of a spectacular son. He was sandwiched between the spectacular, he himself being very ordinary. He lived a relatively quiet life. He was weak spiritually and there really wasn't too much to say. But let's look at it because I think there's some interesting lessons and I'm gonna just go through the text and let the Holy Spirit do the teaching and application which He can do much better than I obviously.
Genesis 26...and you might want to turn there 'cause we're gonna stick around in that for a little while. Keep your finger in Hebrews 11. We'll jump back and forth. Now, in chapter 26 we have the list of all of Isaac's faux pas, all of his failures. And there were many and perhaps more than even this list. But his life was filled with so many failures, so many places where he just didn't really take God at His word and obey. First of all, just picking it up in verse 3 of chapter 26 because we don't have time to go into every detail. God had given specific instruction that they were not to go down into Egypt in verse 2, but to "dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of." Now, they were not to go to Egypt as had been done in the past. And he says in verse 3, by Abraham, "Sojourn in this land..." Now that means just be a stranger there. Just kind of float loose in this land. "...and I will be with thee and bless thee, for unto thee, and unto they see, I will give all these countries and I will perform the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father." Now, he wanted to sojourn in a land known as Gerar. Gerar was one of the areas occupied by the Canaanites, a pagan people. He was only to sojourn, which means he was only to be a stranger there. Then you come over to verse 6 and what do you see? "And Isaac"...what?..."dwelt there..." Instead of being a sojourner there, he landed there and put his roots down. That was the first big mistake he made. And so, consequently, he really extricated himself from the Promised Land for the period of time which he dwelt in Gerar. Then of course he lied in verse 7. We find _____________________ "the men of the place asked him of his wife and he said 'She is my sister,' for he feared to say 'She is my wife,' lest, said he, 'the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she was fair to look upon.'" Now he had a real beautiful wife...Rebekah...beautiful on the outside. As we shall see in a little while, she wasn't so beautiful on the inside. But she was beautiful on the outside and he thought, boy, I don't want to say this is my wife; they'll kill me and get her. Now, he didn't care about whether they got her or not; he just cared about staying alive. Because when he told them she was his sister, for sure they'd try to get her because that was somewhat inconsequential. Boy, he was selfish. But it's interesting. "And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out through a window and saw and, behold" and the old English says, "Isaac was sporting with Rebekah"...(laughter)..."his wife." And there are all kinds of ways to translate that. I'll leave that up to you. Some of the versions say caressing and so forth. But anyway, the king looked through the window and he said, Ah, ha, you don't sport with your sister (laughter). "And Abimelech called Isaac and said," verse 9, "Behold, of a surety she is thy wife, and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, 'Because I said, Lest I die for her.' And Abimelech said, 'What is this thou hast done unto us? One of the people might lightly have lain with thy wife and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.' And Abimelech charged all his people saying, 'He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.'" In spite of his lie, God was gracious and protected him. So he not only stayed in the wrong land, but he lied. Now, he was really kind of messed up. And God all the time was trying to get him to get out of there, but he kept his roots down. So finally, God went through a long process to get him out. Verse 12: "Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold and the Lord blessed him." You say, does the Lord bless people like that? Yeah, well, you see, the Abrahamic covenant was...mark it...unconditional. And the blessing came to him because he was the next one in the line of the Abrahamic covenant, even though he was kind of a crummy character from time to time, God still kept His promise. This proves the unconditional character of the Abrahamic covenant. "And the man became great and went forward"...and that's exactly what the promise involved..."and grew until he became very great." He went from great to very great. "For he had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds and great store of servants and the Philistines"...what?..."envied him." Great people aren't always popular. "For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them and filled them with earth. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, 'Go from us, for thou art much mightier than we.'" You know how they wanted to get rid of him? They filled up all his wells with dirt. Now, that's a lot of work to dig a well. If you've got all those flocks, you've got to have water. And the Philistines ran around, they figured the best way to get rid of this guy is cut off the water supply. So they filled up all his wells with dirt. So Isaac became Isaac, the well digger (laughter). Verse 17...he still wouldn't leave. He didn't get the message yet. "And Isaac departed from there..." Oh, you say, praise the Lord. "...and he pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar." He didn't go very far at all...went over the hill (laughter). "And he"...sojourned there?...no! What did he do? He "dwelt there" again. "And Isaac digged again the wells of water..." He's a persistent fellow. Kind of mousy...he didn't really do anything against the Philistines, just went somewhere else and started digging more wells. And this is interesting. "Isaac digged again the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. And Isaac's servants digged in the valley and found there a well of springing water. And the herdsmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdsmen saying, 'The water is ours,' and he called the name of the well Esek because they strove with him." So the herdsmen drove them out, so passively Isaac goes, verse 21, "and they digged another well and strove for that also and called the name of it Sitnah. And he removed from there and digged another well..." and he just keeps going because everybody takes over his wells, you see. "And he removed from there and digged another well; for that they strove not. And he called the name of it Rehoboth. And he said, 'For now the Lord hath made room for us and we shall be fruitful in the land.' And he went up from there to Beer-sheba." Hallelujah, because then he finally snuck in the backdoor of the Promised Land. The only way God could get him there was to have the Philistines keep filling up his wells. At last he was home. And then in verse 24: "And the Lord appeared unto him the same night and said, 'I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not for I am with thee...bless thee, and multiply thy seed for thy servant Abraham's sake.' And he builded an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there and there Isaac's servants digged a well." (Laughter). Finally got into the Promised Land and dug a well. But it took a lot to get him home. And so he was kind of like a prodigal son. When he finally got there, God was faithful and took him, threw His arms around him and blessed him. But that's how grace operates. So Isaac's life was kind of weakly and sickly and sinful. Yet, even through it all, he believed God. And he finally established himself in the scroll of faith because of one great act that kind of wrapped up his life. And he kind of backed in the backdoor on that one, too. He finally wound up doing the right thing only because everybody set it up so he couldn't help but do the right thing, even though he thought he was doing something else. An amazing character.
Now, let's see what this thing was that he did. Back up to chapter 25, verse 21. "And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren..." And this is an interesting thing because here's the same problem that Abraham faced and all these promises of the seed that's gonna be so great like the sand of the sea and the stars of Heaven, etc., etc., all these promises, and it's apparent that it had to be a miracle of God because both of these women were barren, both Sarah and Rebekah. So Isaac prayed because his wife was barren "and the Lord was entreated by him and Rebekah, his wife, conceived. And the children"...she had twins within her..."struggled together within her and she said 'If it be so, why am I thus?'" That's a very obscure phrase in the Hebrew, very difficult to translate. I would prefer the translation, "Why do I yet live?" "Why am I yet?" In other words, this is such a violent struggle, how am I even living? "And she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her" in verse 23 "two nations are in they womb and two manner of people shall be born of thee, and the one people shall be stronger than the other people"...now here comes the key..."and the elder shall serve the younger." Now it was the law of primogeniture that the oldest son was the leader of the family and that the second son in line served the first son. But here the promise is, it's gonna be reversed. The elder will serve the younger. "And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red all over like an hairy garment"...that's what it says (laughter)..."they called his name Esau. After that came his brother out and his hand took hold of Esau's heel and his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was threescore years old when she bore them. And the boys grew and Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, and Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents."
Now, here we have these two that are born and it is by the design of God, sovereignly, that Jacob would rule over Esau even though Esau had the right of the firstborn, the primogeniture. God designed that Jacob should be the line of Messiah. Now, you say, isn't that rather arbitrary on God's part? Arbitrary isn't the right word; let's say it's absolutely sovereign. Now, if you read Romans chapter 9 and you look at verse 11, you find just exactly that very statement that God chose these children on the basis of His own free sovereignty. Listen to what it says: "And not only this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth, it was said unto her, 'The elder shall serve the younger.' As it is written, 'Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.'" God says I have the right to choose whomever I will. I choose Jacob before they were ever born or ever did good or wrong. You say, oh, that's not fair. That's exactly what Paul thought you'd say so in verse 14 he says "What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For He saith to Moses, 'I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom I will have compassion.'" God does what He wants. You say, well, He can't do that. It's not right. He says in verse 19, are you saying that God is at fault. And you know what the answer is? "Nay, but oh, man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, 'Why hast thou made me thus?'" The potter has the right to make any kind of vessel he wants. Don't ever question the sovereignty of God. When the world was in chaos, no man had a right to tell God to create it or not create it anew. No man existed. God did what He wanted. That which was left inert in creation had no reason to complain that it wasn't given vegetative power. Nor do vegetables have any reason to complain that they aren't animals. Nor do animals have any reason to complain that they aren't men. Nor do our first parents complain that they were created inferior to angels. Nothing...watch it...nothing has any claims to make on its maker. Nothing. Paul said He had the same right over all as the potter has over the clay to make one vessel to honor and to allow another vessel to be unto to dishonor. If a man...listen...if a man had no claim on God when he was innocent; did he gain some claim after the fall? Not at all. It's interesting, too, from a human realm that I reserve the right to bestow favor upon whomever I want. Am I gonna claim something for myself that God doesn't have? And so, as we have been the objects of God's grace, we have nobody to thank but God. And everything He's done, according to Ephesians 1, is to the praise of...what?...His glory. So God is God and God does what His sovereignty designs to do.
And so the children were born and when they came out verse 26 says the little baby...interesting thought...Jacob had a hold of Esau's heel, which was symbolic of the fact that he would be grasping Esau's birthright later on. Now, the boys grew up and Esau was a hunter, 27, "a man of the field, and Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents." He was the homebody. "And Isaac loved Esau..." You say, why did he love Esau? Esau a nicer guy? No! Because he did eat of his venison. You know that old Isaac was a materialistic, fleshly, lustful old bird that just wanted good meat (laughter) and that's why he attached himself to Esau. We think of these patriarchs so often as some kind of ethereal supernatural holy people. This guy just liked meat and Esau provided it. "...but Rebekah loved Jacob." Why? He scouted around the house and did little diddly things, you see (laughter). You see the difference, you know. Jacob boiled pottage. Jacob was a cook...mother's kitchen. Anyway, enough of that. "Esau came from the field..." You see, here's robust, rough Esau. "...and he was faint." Too much hunting and he kind of got a little bit tired. "Esau said to Jacob, 'Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red...'" That's really all it says there. Whatever was in there, he didn't even know. Whatever that red stuff is; I want it, see (laughter). Doesn't even identify it. Pottage, whatever that is, is just put in there ______________. He says, feed me with some of that red. He didn't care what it was, "for I faint. Therefore, was his named called [Red]." "Edom" means red. Now, Jacob is a pretty smart guy, pretty shrewd. Esau and his father were a lot alike. They wanted something to eat and if they could get something in their stomachs, they were pretty happy. Jacob was a lot more careful than that. He saw something possible here. "And Jacob said, 'Sell me this day thy birthright.'" Now, this guy must have really been hungry in the first place. In the second place, he must have thought very little of the birthright...right? Very little. And it's true, all he wanted was something in his stomach. He didn't care about the future. He was a man and he was a pragmatist for the moment. "And Esau said, 'Behold I am at the point to die and what profit shall this birthright do to me?' And Jacob said, 'Swear to me this day,' and he swore unto him and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils"...that's kind of like a bean..."and he did eat and drink and rose up and went his way, thus Esau despised his birthright." The character you see of Esau is clearly indicated there. In Hebrews 12:16 it says he's a profane man and the word profane literally means he is outside on the threshold, which means he's the guy that you sort of wipe your feet off. It's okay to walk on him. He's common stuff. That's literally the root of it. He's just common. He had no real great aspirations or great longings. He wasn't the beautiful grapes hanging inside. He wasn't some lovely picture. He was just, you know, the porch that everybody walked on. Everything was very mundane for him, the lowest level of apprehension satisfied him. It's interesting, too, I think, to note that Jacob didn't really, although he thought he was getting the birthright, he didn't really get it by this little bargain. In fact, as it turned out, he had to run from Esau and he spent years hiding from Esau. And finally, he only obtained the birthright when Esau came back and left it there. And so it really didn't pay off. Esau abandoned it in, I think it's Genesis 36, and then Jacob entered into the inheritance. If you want a great characterization of Esau look at verse 33 and 34. And you come down, "Jacob said, 'Swear to me this day,' and he swore unto him, and he sold his birthright unto Jacob." And here's a great characterization of Esau. "He did eat and drink and rose up and went his way..." No thought for God, passionate, impulsive, incapable of estimating the true value of anything that doesn't immediately appeal to the senses, preferring the animal to the spiritual, he was indeed profane, common. And so there were two things then that indicated that Jacob was to be the heir: the prophecy before birth and the selling of the birthright which proved that Esau didn't want it anyway.
Now, with that as a background, let's go to chapter 27 and see how it all comes out at the end. Verse 1: "And it came to pass that when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he couldn't see, he called Esau, his eldest son, and said unto him, 'My son,' and he said unto him, 'Behold, here am I.' And he said, 'Behold, now I am old. I know not the day of my death.'" Oh, he's sneaky. "'Now, therefore, take, I pray thee, they weapons, they quiver and they bow and go out to the field and take me some venison and make me savoury food such as I love and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless thee before I die." That's all he cared about. Talk about crass. If this guy had a full belly, he was happy. I'm about to die; I want something to eat (laughter). That's all you got on your mind and you're about to die (laughter). He was really crass. You want to hear something sneaky. He lived 40 more years. (Laughter) And you know something, he knew he wasn't dying. He wanted to sneak in the blessing on Esau. The hurry and the secrecy, you know, which characterized this action are all so suspicious. And in addition, his self-desire for personal gratification and feasting is indicative of the fact that he wanted Esau to get the birthright. He knew the purpose of God. Surely Rebekah had communicated to him in these years of marriage. Surely she had told him what God originally said and surely Jacob had reminded him that Esau sold him the birthright. Certainly he knew that. And listen, incidentally, Jacob is not given the approval of God for the trickery he pulled on Esau or for not helping him with the _____ apart from selling his birthright. That isn't a right thing to do. Jacob had a good thought. He wanted something that was very good, but he wanted it in a wrong way and he went about it in a wrong way. But nevertheless, Esau was not to receive the birthright. And I'm sure, as best we can tell, Isaac must have known this. And so he wanted to circumvent and get Esau the blessing. And when he did this, he began to set up a chain reaction of evil things that were really the devil's effort to thwart God's plan, but God just twisted them around and brought His plan to pass in spite of them. Verse 5: "And Rebekah"...he was going to have Isaac come back, or Esau come back with him to eat and then just bless him. That's what he says very clearly. The end of verse 4, "my soul may bless thee before I die," and he's not even gonna die. "And Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son." She was sneaking around, you know, the old ear to the door and she heard this. "And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison and bring it." She was a deceitful woman. She was a proud woman. She was a selfish woman. She wanted her own way, not the Lord's. She really showed a lack of total faith in God, because God could've brought about what was right in His own way, but she was gonna help God just like Sarah hiring Hagar to come in here and give Abraham a child. Everybody wants to help God. And it just created havoc. "And Rebekah"...let's go through the plot..."Rebekah spoke unto Jacob her son saying, 'Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother saying, 'Bring me venison and make me savoury food that I may eat and bless thee before the Lord before my death.' Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.'" Now, she's gonna plot with Jacob as to how to beat Esau out of the blessing. "'Go to the flock and fetch me from there two good kids of the goats and I will make them savoury food for thy father such as he loveth.'" Now, how would you like to have the record of your testimony in a whole chapter nothing but the fact that you like to eat? (Laughter) Verse 10...just ridiculous...verse 10: "'And thou shalt bring it to thy father that he may eat and that he may bless thee before his death.' And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, 'Behold, Esau, my brother is an hairy man and I am a smooth man.'" (Laughter) Now, old Isaac was blind and he's just gonna say, you're not Esau, see. There's no hair on your arms. "'My father, perhaps, will feel me and I shall seem to him as a deceiver and I shall bring a curse upon me and not a blessing.' And his mother said unto him, 'Upon me be thy curse, my son...'" She wants to accept the blame. Now watch. "'Only obey my voice and go fetch me them.'" Go get those two goats. "And he went and fetched..." You know, this would have been his chance to be a man. "...and brought them to his mother and his mother made savoury food such as his father loved. And Rebekah took the choicest raiment of her eldest son, Esau"...ah, she goes and gets Esau's best clothes...get that scent of Esau, you know..."and put them upon"...that was before Ban, so you know that clothes, you know, had things (laughter)...so..."put them upon Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands..." Can't you imagine that little operation?...getting hairy skin off a goat attached to his hands? "...and upon the smooth of his neck"...goat hair all over him (laughter)...and Esau's coat...looked like he was going to a Halloween party (laughter). "And she gave the savoury food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob." Here's Jacob all dressed up in this ridiculous regalia with a handful of meat for Isaac. You know, you see, she operated on the principle that the Lord helps them who help themselves (laughter). You know what; the Lord helps them who are at the end of themselves. Then Jacob joined in. Here comes the chain of lies. Verse 18: "He came unto his father and said, 'My father,' and he said, 'Here am I'"...I don't why they went through all that all the time, but anyway...(laughter)..."'here am I'"...these twins apparently sounded alike even though they were perhaps not identical but fraternal, although that would be an unusual situation, but apparently they were because of the difference in hair. "'Here am I; who art thou, my son?'" So there was enough similarity that it was a little hard to tell them apart. "And Jacob said unto his father, 'I am Esau, thy firstborn'"...that's the first lie..."'I have done according as thou badest me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison that thy soul may bless me.' And Isaac said unto his son, 'How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son?'" And then another lie, and here he drags God in...shameless. "'Because the Lord, thy God brought it to me.' And Isaac said unto Jacob, 'Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.' And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father and he felt him and said, 'The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.' And he recognized him not because his hands were hairy as his brother Esau's hands, so he"...what?..."blessed him. And he said, 'Art thou my very son Esau?' And he said, 'I am.' And he said, 'Bring it near to me and I will eat of my son's venison that my soul may bless thee.' And he brought it near to him and he did eat. And he brought him wine and he drank. And his father Isaac said unto him, 'Come near now and kiss me, my son.' And he came near and kissed him and he smelled"...I told you..."the smell of his raiment"...said, that's Esau..."blessed him and said, 'See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed.'" The thing came off. "'Therefore, God give thee of the dew of Heaven, the fatness of the earth, plenty of grain and wine. Let people serve thee and nations bow down to thee, be lord over thy brethren'"...that's what he wanted to hear..."'let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. Cursed be everyone that curseth thee and blessed be he that blesseth thee.'" And he got the blessing. Then Esau showed up. Verse 30: "And it came to pass as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob was yet scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac, his father, that Esau, his brother, came in from his hunting." Here comes Esau. "And he also had made savoury food and brought it unto his father and said unto his father, 'Let my father rise and eat of his son's venison that thy soul may bless me.' Isaac, his father, said unto him, 'Who art thou?'" Haven't I been through this once before? (Laughter) "And he said, 'I am thy son, they firstborn, Esau.' And Isaac trembled very exceedingly and said, 'Who? Where is he that have taken venison and brought it me and I have eaten of all before thou camest and have blessed him? Yea, and he shall be blessed.'" I believe there's a great pause before that last sentence. And that last statement of verse 33 is the one great faithful act in the life of Isaac. You say, what does it mean? It means that Isaac had blessed Jacob and he Esau coming back, said "Who? Where is he that hath taken venison and brought it to me and I have eaten of all before thou camest and have blessed him?" Then he stopped, realizing that, against his own will, against his own plot, against his own fleshly design for Esau, God had granted the blessing to Jacob, you see. And so he says, all right, God, yes, and he shall remain blessed. And so finally the thing climaxes out with faith. God, if that's what you insist upon, I buy it. Now, keep in mind this, also. That whether he blessed Jacob or Esau, he did believe in the Abrahamic promise being passed to one of those two sons. So his faith was legitimate. He finally became obedient even though against his own will. Doesn't that show you when God wants to work His purposes, He'll work them? That doesn't make what Jacob and his mother did right. They wanted a good thing but they got it in a bad, bad way. And then immediately after that from verse 34 through verse 40, he gives a lesser blessing to Esau. And he said to Esau essentially that he was going to be blessed. He gives him almost the same words, but he blesses him with a wonderful blessing. And he says in verse 39, "...thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth...the dew of Heaven from above...by thy sword shalt thou live and shalt serve thy brother." That was the only difference, that he would serve Jacob. And so thy were both blessed and yet isn't it interesting that his faith is real because he is blessing them in the fulfillment of a promise that he can never see fulfilled. So even in the midst of death, he is aware that God will fulfill the promise. Incidentally, Esau joined Ishmael as the father of Arab people and, again, problems for the Jew.
And so, though Isaac's life was kind of a blot on the Old Testament, yet, in the climax he finally succumbed in submission to God and said in verse 33, "yea, and he shall be blessed." Let it be. God has forced the issue. I'm content with God's will. And he passed the blessing to Jacob, a lesser blessing to Esau. Here was a man who faced death with the absolute confidence that God would carry on after he was gone and fulfill His promise in his children.
All right, secondly, and just briefly, we're not going to spend nearly as much time, we see Jacob. Hebrews 11:21: "By faith Jacob"...now he, of course, the one son who was blessed with the right to be the line of Messiah..."By faith Jacob, when he was dying"...now it's his turn to die and he's not seeing the fulfillment..."blessed both the sons of Joseph, and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff." Now the life of faith for Jacob was like his father, Isaac. It was up and down. It wasn't the shining sun on a clear day; it was the sun trying to break through the fog and the denseness of sin, even in the life of Jacob. He was an up and down individual. He walked by faith sometimes; he walked by sight other times. He was holy sometimes; he was sinful sometimes. He was anxious for the Lord to be his God in Genesis 28:21. He glorified God in the tribute he paid to Laban in chapter 31. And though he was afraid of Esau, he yet the sought the Lord in chapter 32. So he was a man of faith, even though his faith didn't really maintain itself through his whole life. But during the closing time of his life, he believed the promise of God enough to pass it on to Joseph's two sons. Your remember their names?...Ephraim and Manasseh. And so he passed the blessing on to them. Of all of Jacob's sons God had chosen, and you remember how many sons he had?...12 sons...God had chosen the birthright to go to Joseph. And that's an interesting thing because Joseph was not the firstborn son of Jacob. Deuteronomy 21:17...just a couple of notes and we'll hurry by. It says this: "But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he hath, for he is the beginning of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his." You remember that Jacob went to find a wife, found a beautiful girl, remember her name...Rachel...and he worked to get Rachel and he got Leah. And Leah was a loser (laughter) right. Seven years and he got Leah. The devil was trying to thwart God's plan. Or I should say, yes, seven years more and he finally got Rachel and it was the firstborn of Rachel that God gave the right of the firstborn and that firstborn of Rachel was Joseph. And so it was the son of the hated, the firstborn of the hated, the one rejected, who finally got the right of primogeniture or the right of the firstborn. In Genesis 48 we find the blessing that Jacob gives to Ephraim and Manasseh and we'll look at this. It's an interesting footnote for you. Some people think that there were only 12 tribes in Israel. There actually were 13. Joseph was divided up into 2 tribes: Ephraim and Manasseh. There were only 12 tribes that had land. Which tribe had no land?...Levi. Levi was the possession of the Lord. So there were 12 landed tribes. In addition, the 13thtribe was Levi, the priestly tribe. All right, coming to Genesis 48, verse 1, "It came to pass after these things that one told Joseph, 'Behold, thy father is sick.' And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim." Jacob's getting ready to die. "And one told Jacob and said, 'Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee and Israel strengthened himself and sat upon his bed." Sat upon his bed? Hebrews said he leaned on his staff. You put the two together, he got up and he sat on the edge of the bed and leaned on his staff. That's what it's saying. He was infirm at that point, but he resurrected himself out of that bed and got something to support himself in order that he might bless those two with the promise of God. Verse 3: "And Jacob said unto Joseph, 'God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz"...or Bethel, maybe you're more familiar with that name..."in the land of Canaan and blessed me and said unto me, 'Behold I will make thee fruitful, multiply thee, and I will make of the a multitude of people and...give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.'" Isn't that wonderful that God told him that? You know something, he never got any of that. God said I'll bless thee, I'll multiply thee, I'll make a great nation, I'll give you the land and he got none of it. But you know something, he believed God. He believed that God would do it, only God didn't do it to him, so he knew God would do it down the line. So he called in those two boys and says I'm gonna pass it on to you. And the writer of the Hebrews simply says it that way. "By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph" while he was worshipping leaning on his staff. In verse 5: "And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh...were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto the into Egypt, are mine. As Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine." In other words, just as if they were firstborn, they shall be mine. You say, well, how did Jacob know to bless these two? It's obvious. God revealed it to him and he obeyed. Here's his act of faith. He really believed that God's promise would be fulfilled in these next two young men. Verse 8: "And Israel"...another name for Jacob...God gave him the name Israel, for the first time we see that name coming into the Bible in connection with Jacob..."And Israel beheld Joseph's sons and said, 'Who are these?' And Joseph said unto his father, 'They are my sons whom God hath given me in this place.'" You see, God had to tell him this; he didn't even know these boys. "And he said, 'Bring them, I pray thee, unto me and I will bless them.' Now the eyes of Israel" or Jacob "were dim for age so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said unto Joseph, 'I had not thought to see thy face and lo, God hath shown me also thy seed.'" I didn't even know if I'd live to see you born and now, look; I see your children. "And Joseph brought them out from between his knees"...and, of course, he didn't even know if he'd live to see him ever come back from Egypt either, but now he was seeing his children..."Joseph brought them out from between his knees and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. Joseph took them both"...watch this one..."Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand"...now, watch this. The blessing was the right hand. So Joseph brings his two boys, Ephraim and Manasseh. He makes sure Ephraim gets on the right hand and he makes sure Manasseh gets on the left. And he...now let me make sure I get this right. Verse 13 is a little bit tangled at this point. Watch it carefully. He had "Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand..." He wanted Manasseh to get the blessing. "And Israel stretched out his right hand, laid it upon Ephraim's head who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head guiding his hands knowingly..." Isn't that good? He had them all set and here's what Jacob did...(laughter)...just like that. "...because Manasseh was the firstborn. And he blessed Joseph and said, 'God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who fed me all my life long unto this day"...see, he's a believing man..."an Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads and let my name be named on them and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.' And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. And he held up his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head." Even though Manasseh was the firstborn, here again, there was a crossing away from the firstborn as God was working His plan. He tried to move his hand. "And Joseph said unto his father, 'Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put thy right hand upon his head.' And his father refused and said, 'I know it, my son; I know it.'" You say, well, if he knew it, why was he doing this? Because he was following the command of God. "He also shall become a people." Sure, Manasseh will become a people. "'He...shall be great, but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.' And he blessed them that day...'In thee shall Israel bless saying, 'God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh,' and he set Ephraim before" or above "Manasseh. And Israel said unto Joseph, 'Behold, I die, but God shall be with you and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.'" Now, you see, he had belief that God would fulfill His promise completely. That's trust. So Jacob died as a man of faith just as his father Isaac had died.
Now, we come lastly and just briefly I mentioned him, Joseph. Joseph died as a man of faith also. Verse 22 of Hebrews 11: "By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones." This is interesting. Joseph is dying here and, of course, at this point he's spent a great portion of his life in Egypt. And he's dying and he's going to have to be buried there but he says, now, I want to tell you people about the departing of the children of Israel. They're going back to the Promised Land and I want to make sure you take my bones when you go. Now, that's faith. He was in Egypt. You know that it had been 200 years since the promise that God was gonna do this. Two hundred years since the promise! The promise recorded in Genesis 15 of the possession of the land...200 years and they'd never been there yet. And he says, you guys are gonna be going back pretty soon. Will you pack up my bones and take them when you go? That's faith. How did he know that? He knew it because he believed God's promise. His faith was strong. In chapter 50, verse 24, "Joseph said to his brethren, 'I die and God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land...'" Isn't that good? He believed God. God had said there was a land and he never saw it but he believed it would come. God will "bring you out of this land unto the land which he swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel saying, 'God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones from here.' So Joseph died, being 110 years old and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin"...where?..."in Egypt." He died in faith. You say, well, what ever happened? Did they ever get his bones over there? Sure they did. Do you know that's the end of Genesis and bang, as you begin Exodus they move out. In chapter 13, I think it is, verse 19. Yes. Good, I hit one right today anyway. "And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him" when Moses took off for the land "for he had solemnly sworn the children of Israel saying, 'God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones away from here.'" So when they packed off in the Exodus, they packed up old Jacob...or old Joseph, what was left of him and took him with them.
Now, here are people dying victoriously. Let me wrap it up by just a couple of thoughts. These are men who believed God in the face of death. They're men who lived by faith in their lives, but the faith that they showed at their death was the consummate kind of faith. And really, let's face it, the acid test of your faith is, does it do you any good when you're dying, right. If your faith is no good then, it's no good. Now, there's only two reasons to fear death. You ready for this? Only two reasons. Number one, you fear for yourself. The only one reason to fear for death to begin with is because you're afraid for what's going to happen to you. Now, if you're a Christian, should you fear? What's there to fear? So if you're fearing death for yourself as a Christian, that's ridiculous. For death for you is only to go into the presence of God. Job even knew that. The oldest book in the Bible...Job said, even if "worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself...and not another, though my reins be consumed within me." Job knew he'd see God. Should a Christian fear death? Of course not. Read 1 Corinthians 15. "Oh, death, where is thy sting? Grave, where is thy victory?" Jesus Christ has conquered death. If you're a Christian, what are you fearing death for...for yourself? No. Far better to die. "For to me to live is Christ and die is"...what?...[gain] If a Christian fears death then his faith isn't any good somewhere. Do you believe God has a place for you? Do you believe there's a place in the Father's house that Jesus has prepared? Then what would you fear? What could you fear?
There's another reason to fear death. You say, I don't fear death for myself; I fear death for others. ____________. That's got to rank at the height of egotism. Well, if I die who's going to carry on the work? (Laughter) Tell the mother who dies and fears for her children that God loves her children more than she can love them and that God knows better to care for them than she does. I liked what the minister said at the funeral of Lyndon Johnson when he was using Moses as an illustration. You remember? At the funeral of Moses, the text says, "Moses is dead, let us arise." Isn't that good? Moses is dead; let's get going. You see, Moses was wonderful, but God has made it for a long time without Moses and he can make it for a while without me. It's estimated that 3.5 billion people populate the earth. In 100 years none of them will be here. And you know what? God will still be working if Jesus doesn't come. You know Paul died? The apostle Paul died...actually did (laughter). You say, well, I'm concerned about others. That's ridiculous. God has a perfect plan. He'll work it out with you in it in your place and with somebody to fill in when you're gone. Everybody dies but God lives, Jesus lives, the Spirit and the work goes on. I think about life sometimes and just as soon dies anyway, be with Jesus.
But let me say this to you that may not know Jesus Christ and by faith you don't know God. I say to you, you better fear death. For death is indeed the grim reaper that shall separate you forever from good and God and life in Hell. And that's tragic.
Let's pray. Father, we just ask You to put together some of these fumbling words tonight and make some sense of it in our hearts. God, help us to learn from men who faced death with trust. God, there have been so many people who have been afraid of death. May we realize that for our Christian faith, death is not an ending, but a beginning. It's not a going alone, but it's a going in the divine companionship of the Son of God. It's not really over; it's only just begun. Help us to face death with victory and confidence. Show us what the life of faith is that enables faith to be so strong that even in death it finds its greatest brilliance. We thank you, Father, for what we've seen in these men. We pray that we shall see that kind of faith in us. And, Lord, for those who might be visiting in our midst tonight who've never put their faith in Jesus Christ, may they be not only equipped to live, but equipped to die by putting their faith in You. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.
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Volume 17 Issue 35 Jan. 21 - 27, 2005
THE LEROY NeiMAN SKETCHBOOK: 1964 LISTON VS. CLAY1965 ALI VS. LISTON
By LeRoy Neiman
powerHouse Books
220 pages; $3,750.00
World-renowned artist LeRoy Neiman, 77, frequently sketched and painted Muhammad Ali in training and at his major fights around the world.
The window on the ring
LeRoy Neiman has compiled his incredible history in sketches of Muhammad Ali
By Jerry Tallmer
This is an artists studio with a difference. It is also a boxing ring.
There were two fights, said the artist. The first one in Miami, the second one up in Maine. The first one had red ropes. The second one had blue ropes. It just happened that way.
But you notice those things, the journalist said.
Thats right, said the artist. Well, that became the theme of the book. He grins behind his handlebar moustache. The third color is yellow. Remember Harry Markson, the promoter at the Garden? Hes gone now, but he was a great guy. He said, Yellows not a boxing color. But theres a lot of yellow in this book.
He turned the big pages, one after another. Yellow here. Yellow background there. Thats Malcolm X. His umbrellas yellow. Little spots of yellow all over the place.
The artist famous and beloved around the world, but snubbed, down-rated to this day by various of the aesthetic fraternity, is LeRoy Neiman, now in his 77th year in this world, his 43rd year in these premises in the West 60s.
My 43rd year in this room, he says. Were survivors is what we are.
It is quite a room, a studio with a 20-foot ceiling. One wall is all easelssmall, large, and larger. The opposite wall is paints, paint pots, brushes, scores of them, hundreds of them, pots overrunning with brilliant colors, many more than just red, blue, or yellow. The entire third wall is given over to a single huge staggering canvas of jazz musicians, but more on that later.
On the tabletop work surface along the fourth wall rests the book, a very big book, 13.75 by 16.5 by maybe four inches, that Neiman is turning the pages of, one by one, talking about each page, each drawing, each detail, each person, as he turns
A very fancy book, he said dryly. Very expensive.
It is called The LeRoy Neiman Sketchbook: 1964 Liston vs. Clay1965 Ali vs. Liston. It is in fact the beautiful printed replica of a Neiman sketchbook of those years, and it costshold your breath$3,750 per copy. Published by powerHouse, it was recently on exhibit for a month at the publishing houses gallery at 68 Charlton Street.
The first fight, said Neiman, as he peered at the date, was February 25, 1964. The second fight was May 25, 1965, exactly 18 months later. Clay changed his name to Ali after the first fight. Look here.
He pointed to the reproduction of a poster for the second fight, the one in Maine. It says: Champion vs. Challenger. They refused to print Alis name. Hed been Ali for 18 months already.
The New York Times did the same thing. Look here, turning a page to the name Clay in an eight-column Times headline. They had Arthur Daley there, they had Bob Lipsyte there, and they still held onto it. Thats one of the factors in this book. I deal with that sort of thing.
The journalist asked where and when Neiman first met the Cassius Clay who would become Muhammad Ali.
It was one block away from here, the artist said, at the St. Nicholas Arena, in 1962. Clay vs. Billy Daniels, the Harlem Barber. Jack Drees, a big tall TV interviewer, said, You gotta meet this kid. He took me to the dressing room. There was the kid. I started drawing. He said, I wanna draw, so I gave him the pen. And he drew this stuff down here in the corner [of Neimans own drawing of that kid]: a rocket ship, an auto, and a sketch of himself with the words: Next Champ, Cassius Clay, 1963. He gave himself one year to win the championshipone year early.
So he beats this guy, and has about three other fights, one in London, one in Los Angeles, one in somewhere, and now we come to Miami, Clay vs. Listona brute, a villain, a tough guy, but not a
well, I didnt have problems with him. I realized, when Liston got in the ring, here was this guy who had spent half his life in jail. In the ring, he faced the same proportions, the same size as a jail cell. It made him mean, a mean cuss
Again Neiman indicated, with a gesture, that he couldnt really dislike Liston.
Another page: Some poetry the new champ wrote into Neimans sketchbook: Liston was big strong and tough, but to beat the Lip it wasnt enough.
Another whole page is a pen-and-ink drawing, by Clay/Ali, of the scene when hes predicting his eight-round knockout of Liston. In one corner of the crowd at ringside is a tiny smiling face: Alis caricature of LeRoy Neiman.
Page after page after page, in pencil, in charcoal, in pen and ink, in conté crayon, in every medium known to drawing, and of course, afterwards, in paint. The men around Ali are Louis Serria, Bundini Brown, Angelo Dundee. Liston lacing on his shoes. Liston on the scale. Liston as a bear. (Ali had called him a bear). Liston and his wife, leaving the arena. Young Howard Cosell, looking like a dancer, at the beginning of his career. Budd Schulberg reporting on the fight for Playboy. Great sportswriter Red Smith in red crayon. Norman Mailer in black. Jake LaMottaI had dinner with him two nights ago, Neiman said.
Beau Jack, terrific welterweight champ, shining shoes for his very existence in Miami.
He shined Sinatras shoes. One night at Sinatras theres a knock on the door. Its Beau Jack, bringing back Franks shoes. Its an honor to shine Mr. Sinatras shoes, Beau Jack says. Sinatra replies: Its an honor to have Beau Jack shine my shoes.
Neiman pointed to a slight smudge on the side of a page.
Look at the printing we did, he said. We kept all the marks, the fingerprints, everything.
The second fight, the one in Maine, ended in a knockout of Listonan invisible punchthat is a very great mystery to this day. Does Neiman have any theories about that?
No. Arms folded across his chest. I keep that to myself. Pause. There was something strange about both of those fights. Muslims. Black Panthers. People getting killed. Malcolm X. Ali was a smart kid, a naive kid. The Muslims told him to do something, and
He lets it trail off.
In another sketchbook theres Joe Louis, Jimmy Cannon, and a beautiful Neiman watercolor of the very young Cassius Clay. Nineteen years old. A kid. Loud. But a good kid. I liked him a lot. Look at him. Like a Vegas showgirl. The hands are good. The feet are good. A perfect physical specimen. And a very aware guy.
The first Ali-Frazier fight. Madison Square Garden, March 8, 1971. The champion dethroned.
Sinatra was there, shooting this. Nothing happens, nothing happens. Last round, BANG! Ali goes down. Neiman has captured the moment in exquisitely fine-lined pen and ink that resembles etching. The white ropes are where the ink has stopped. How do you do that, LeRoy? Do you erase?
He shrugged: No, you just stop.
It must take hours.
Maybe three-quarters of an hour.
There are 500 printed, numbered, signed copies of the replica like the one on this work table. Where is the original?
Where had it been before this?
In a drawer right in the next room, for 40 years.
How did you come to find it again?
I didnt find it. I knew it was there. But I dont ever want to reflect back on what I did. Youve got to go forward, not back. I dont want to go back.
So how come we now have this stunning edition?
Its not a grievance, but I can tell you one thing. Thereve been so many books written about Ali, and films and things. I felt that since theyre putting out all these things about him, a number of them by people who dont know him and werent therewell, I was there.
So I looked at the sketchbook and thought: there it is. What the hell, I can do the real thing.
LeRoy sent copy number one to Ali and Alis wife Lonnie, up in Michigan. Neiman has been as sickened as some of the rest of us by media exploitation of the aging, ailing Muhammad Ali.
He looks at the book and looks at the book, and doesnt say much, Neiman said. But Alis now drawing again, because of the book. Hes coming here in 10 days, with his wife. His father was a sign painter, you know. His brother tried to paint. Its in the blood.
And paint is in the blood of LeRoy Neiman. Take another look at the huge painting of those musicians on the opposite wall. Fifteen or 16 of them. Charlie Parker. Dizzie Gillespie. Miles Davis. Krupa. Dorsey. Goodman. Glenn Miller. Jerry Mulligan. Fats Waller. Billie Holiday. Some others.
When I was young I knew all these guys. All dead now except Wynton Marsalis.
Straight faced but with irony. I put Goodman and Dorsey and Miller in there mainly because theyre white. You cant have an all-black orchestra. Even basketball teams have a couple of white guys.
What are you going to do with it, LeRoy?
I dont know. Its gotta have a public place. I dont want it to go in some private mansion some place.
The journalist suggested one exactly right place: Carnegie Hall. Neimans eyebrows signal: Yes, thankswhy not?
Those occasional snobs of the aesthetic fraternity may not look on a work like thisjazz musicians!as art, but let us wait a couple of hundred years and see. God knows it is painting, and more. You can not only see it but hear it.
Painting is life, said LeRoy Neiman. Just like a priest or a rabbi or anything. Its got to be your whole life. I cant do anything else. I never learned anything else. I cant do anything else. Says it twice. I cant do anything else.
No one is asking you to, LeRoy. This book
your life
your workits a knockout, pal.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Monday, July 09, 2007
No Phone, No Internet
A major phone cable has been cut in our area. I'm at the library with Isaac, using the computer while he gets some books. I won't be posting again until we have telephone service. The phone company says it might be Wednesday before they get the cable repaired. So, TTFN ("Ta Ta For Now",) as Tigger used to say. At least I think it was Tigger.
When we came home this evening, the telephone lines were working again. I'm glad it didn't take until Wednesday after all.
When we came home this evening, the telephone lines were working again. I'm glad it didn't take until Wednesday after all.
Posted by Genevieve Netz on 7/09/2007
Read more about internet
2 comments:
- Michael Leddy said...
Yes, it was. Also Catwoman, from the 60s TV version of Batman.
- Genevieve said...
Hi, Michael. The kids watched (and I listened to) "Winnie The Pooh" at least 1000 times when they were little. How could I have doubted my memory?!
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CONTENTMENT: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry, live simply, expect little, give much, sing often, pray always, forget self, think of others and their feelings, fill your heart with love, scatter sunshine. These are the tried links in the golden chain of contentment.
(Author unknown)
IT IS STILL BEST to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasure; and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.
(Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957)
Thanks for reading.


text:
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The start time of the New England Revolution's home match against the defending MLS Cup champion, LA Galaxy, on June 2 at Gillette Stadium has been pushed back 30 minutes to accommodate fans' viewing of the U.S. Men's National Team's match against Germany in Washington, D.C., earlier in the day.
The start time for the Revolution-Galaxy match is now set for 4:30 p.m. ET – 30 minutes later than the originally-scheduled 4 p.m. – so that fans may watch the U.S. match which begins at 2:30 p.m. ET, without interruption.
NBC Sports Network will still televise the Revs-Galaxy match live and in its entirety.
Click here to view the Revs' 2013 full schedule


text:
Firstly, the Hyacinths are coming along marvellously, you can practically see them growing and they smell amazing. They're on the kitchen table, which is where I spend most of my time, and they are brilliant.
They are a bit squinty though.
That yellow thing in the background, that's Perfect's float because we took him swimming this week. Because I'm the most neurotic person in the world, I was really worried about him getting cold, so we splashed out (hahahaha) and got him a wetsuit. If there is anything nicer in the world than a baby in a baby wetsuit then I don't even want to know about it. He was ADORABLE, as you would expect. And, big news, he's now brilliant at sitting up. What a total, total ledge.
Oh, he is wonderful! We've been taking him to baby things recently. Baby Sensory first, which was dire - you basically sit in a circle with other people who don't want to be there while someone blows bubbles at you. You're supposed to sing along to songs but the one who was running our session didn't want to, so she put on a CD and we all mouthed along to Row, Row, Row Your Boat. My boat was not happy AT ALL. Also, Perfect HATED it and screamed with his all every time I put him on his back. I don't think they were sad to see the back of us.
Then Husband decided he wanted to take him to a song-session baby-music thing, and I mooched along too. They made us sit in a circle (why is it always a circle? I always wear dresses and I'm constantly worrying that folk can see my breeks) and we had to sing and shake tambourines at the babes. I was fine at that bit, and was half-heartedly getting into a bit of rhythm when they...and I can hardly bear to relive this...turned the music up and we had to dance around in the circle. Oh man, it was EXCRUCIATING - have you ever seen a roomful of adults dancing around a circle of couldn't-care-less babies? Believe me, you don't even want to. Awful. And the lady taking the class was all zany and clapping and all 'let's go faster! Hold hands with the person next to you!' and I was all 'No chance pal!' It was grim. I am not the right person for this baby lark. Husband really got into it though, one of the other mums even congratulated him on his singing. Crawler.
And that was this week.


text:
All the Year-End Listicles We Didn't Get Around to Writing in 2011
The year-end listicle is a stressful affair. It's important: You are defining a moment in history. It's hard: You have to remember stuff that happened twelve whole months ago, which is multiple millennia in internet years. Finally, it has a strict deadline: If you procrastinate, then the work you've done will be rendered completely irrelevant at the stroke of midnight on January 1st.
With that in mind, here are the year-end listicles Gawker failed to write in 2011, and why we failed to complete them:
- The Year Reality Stars Committed Suicide: Armstrong, Durden. (Too depressing.)
- The Year Reality Stars Destroyed Marriage: Hefner, Kardashian. (Too tiresome.)
- The Year We Sent Conflicting Messages About Statutory Rape: Sandusky, Stodden. (Too icky.)
- The Year the Revolution Was Tweeted: Egypt, Occupy. (Too New York Times-y.)
- The Year Famous People Pooped: Huffington, Pagan. (Can't focus, too busy giggling.)
- The Year Women Got Shot in the Head and Survived: Salander, Giffords. (Half of this list is fiction.)
- The Year Lindsay Lohan Became a Career Criminal. (Too sad.)
- The Year in Pepperspray. (Makes my eyes itchy.)
- The Year in Kardashian Product Endorsements. (Too sick of typing "Kardashian.")
- The Year Dumbasses Took Donald Trump Seriously. (Ugh.)
- The Year Dumbasses Took an Imbecilic Pizza Man Seriously. (Ugh.)
- The Year We Talked About Mormons: Romney, Huntsman, Broadway. (Been done.)
- The Year We Consumed Books Below Our Reading Levels: Hunger Games, Twilight. (Too late?)
- The Year We Realized How Dirty Our Fingers Are, Because of Touch Screens. (Too OCD.)
- The Year of the Comedienne: Bridesmaids, Bossypants. (Too likely to force us to acknowledge Olivia Munn.)
- The Year Everyone Had Complicated Feelings About Olivia Munn. (Too likely to force us to acknowledge Olivia Munn)
- The Year in Paz de la Huerta Private Parts. (Too easy.)
- The Year in Nepotism: Meghan, Chelsea, Chet, Jenna, Aliana, Russert. (Too many.)
- The Year We Saw Politicians Naked: Weiner, Arango, Lee. (We should probably do this one, actually.)
- The Year We Discovered Mozzarella Burata. (Too bourgeois.)
It's not too late: You can still write these listicles before midnight tomorrow! Feel free to do so in the comments, or for some publication willing to pay for such a thing. (Are publications still willing to pay for such a thing?) Don't worry, I won't tell on you for stealing. (I will totally tell on you for you stealing.)


text:
Great Radix-weekend in Oslo, Norway
Great Radix-weekend in Oslo, Norway
A clear blue sky. A magnificient winter sun reflecting its rays in Oslo Fjord. Thus was the background for the towering building of the Norwegian Ballet and Opera House. A venue combining the harsh, snowclad mountains of Norway with modern art and architecture.
It was the perfect environment for introducing the RADIX project of combining techniques from our traditional patterns with comprehensive self-defence techniques.
Housing international artists of ballet and opera the Opera House was the perfect setting for this seminar also bringing international practitioners together. Participants from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands and England joined the seminar lead by International Instructors Roberts Boer VI degree from Netherlands and Roy Rolstad IV degree from Norway.
The first part of the seminar introduced a thorough historical background of the instructors and their experience with self-defence and applied Taekwon-Do techniques. Also the historical background of Taekwon-Do was outlined with respectful references to the legacy of not only founder Choi Hong Hi, but also of the martial arts influencing the early developement of our unique art of self-defence.
But theory alone stands weak, so of course participants were to practice new ideas and applications for self-defence. After powerful and aware repetition of patterns Chon Ji and Dan Gun with primary application discussions individual techniques where pinned out and applied in realistic self-defence situations. Thus all participants suddenly found themselves being able to adapt and improvise multitudious applications of low blocks and rising blocks.
An important part of self-defence and the RADIX approach is awareness, readiness and concentration. The intuitive and awareness approach was brilliantly demonstrated by Mr. Torfinn Katla Opedal from Norway. Being utterly blind he attended the seminar with the assistance of his father. Unprepared he was suddenly ask, if he would kindly perform pattern Hwa Rang. Without hesitation he rose and found the centre of the gym without assistance and performed a concentrated and accurate pattern. If not being told none of us would have thought him to be blind. It was an impressive and awe inspiring moment.
The second day of the seminar consisted of awareness training and teachings on stress levels, heart rates and the effect on motoric skills.
After an intense practice of awareness during performance of pattern Chon Ji, individual techniques from higher degree patterns were chosen and applied in various self-defence scenarios. All scenarios were practiced with intensity however within a 1-10 scale of speed and power, thus making it possible for all to improve and learn both simple and complicated graps and releasing motions. Emphasis was put on proper stance such as walking stance, L-stance and sitting stance. Also all techniques implied skills towards sine wave, breath control, reflexive training, personal readiness and how to judge safety environments.
An outstanding example of breath control was shown by Mr. Huw Raynolds, originally from England, who is a stage performer and member of the choir at the Opera. On request he sang the most beautiful song, resonating into the gym a sense of selflessness and proper breathing. When he ended several participants admitted to having the goose bumps.
The RADIX project is not regarded as a separate system, but merely a project to make practitioners and instructors capable of applying traditional pattern techniques in actual self-defence. It is inspiring and positively thought provoking as it helps us as instructors to think out of the box and act creatively and intuitively.
A weekend and a seminar with happy, dedicated and investigating practitioners in our wonderful Taekwon-Do family.
On behalf of the Danish delegation I recommend and thank Mr. Robert Boer and Mr. Roy Rolstad for this project and seminar
Thomas Brandt
President ITF Denmark


text:
Live: Cassidy & The Game Freestyle Cipher! (Droppin Heavy Bars)
"The Game and Cassidy Freestyle at MidiEast Studios (Washington DC)" Courtesy: @alezzyworld
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text:
I realised this could be handy to more people developing mods, so here it goes.
If you used git log, git diff or just viewed some changes in github, you probably realised that it only displays text files and their differences (weidu code, documentation and similar). Any update of an IE format file is just considered done, misunderstood — you don't get to see the actual change.
This can be fixed though! Not on github, but for everyone developing or viewing through their own clones of the repositories, the process is relatively simple.
1. Get either iesh or ielister (and compile it).
2. Copy the files somewhere stable. For iesh this means everything, for ieparse the executable will do.
3. Tell git to use it when comparing IE formats.
3.1. Open .git/config of each mod repository you downloaded and add the following, replacing PARSERPATH with the path to either iesh's ieparse.py or ielister:
[diff "ie"] textconv = PARSERPATH cachetextconv = true
(if you use a global git config, you can do it there)
4. Tell git how to reckognise files in IE formats.
4.1. Again for each repo, add or edit .gitattributes with:
*.bcs diff=ie *.chu diff=ie *.pro diff=ie *.spl diff=ie *.vvc diff=ie *.cre diff=ie *.wmp diff=ie *.gam diff=ie *.sav diff=ie
You can add other formats as needed.
5. That's it, now viewing git log -p, git diff and similar will first convert the files to plaintext and then diff them normall. Example:
You can test it by deleting a file and seeing how it is displayed in git diff.
Note: both parsers are mostly complete, but neither has been updated with any of the EE structural changes yet.
Edited by lynx, 09 July 2016 - 07:22 AM.


text:
I can remember the exact moment I started crossing over to the Other Side, the first time I made that tentative transition from happy avid reader to somewhat less contented beginner writer. It was ten years ago, almost to the month. I recall it so precisely because I came to writing comparatively late in life.
As a child, I was a bookworm but I wasn't an endless scribbler, never kept diaries or notebooks, and didn't always long to be a writer. My first attempt at writing fiction was made somewhere between mashing pumpkin and changing a nappy, and I found that my 8-month-old was cutting his teeth at about the same time as I was cutting mine on short stories.
I wish I could say it was a lot more romantic than that, but the truth is that writing rarely is. It's an odd little obsession, practised by a surprisingly diverse set of people, in the face of all sorts of obstacles and knock backs. For me it started out as mummy therapy: a lifelong love of reading, meets a new laptop and a baby monitor on the kitchen counter.
Two months ago my first novel, The Italians at Cleat's Corner Store, was released in Australia. So how did I get from a laptop in the kitchen to a publishing contract? In short, with baby steps. It took ten years for me to hold my own novel in my hands. Here are a few of the things I've picked up on my trip to the Other Side, things I'm still learning about writing and publishing, and a few I wish someone had told me sooner.
1: It's Hard, But Not Impossible
The first short story I wrote gave me a ridiculous sense of accomplishment: it came in second out of a whopping 52 entries in a local writing competition. I was ecstatic. I signed up for an evening course for beginner writers at my nearest community college. I read some famous books about writing. And then I went along to a day seminar at a regional writers' centre to discover all about that Holy Grail: 'Getting Published'. For four hours I sat there intently taking notes while a panel of novelists and publishers detonated the industry from the inside out. My writing ambitions (never overly robust to begin with) were left in smouldering ruins somewhere under my chair.
'If you can do anything else that makes you happy or makes you money, then do that because writing sure as hell won't make you either,' a novelist told the audience.
'The reality is that even good novels are getting passed up regularly in today's uncertain climate,' an agent announced bleakly.
'There's no such thing as manuscripts being picked up from the slush pile anymore,' a publisher admitted. 'We don't even have a slush pile, we just have a bin.'
I went home and did what any self-respecting wannabe author could do. I filled a large glass of wine, opened my laptop and carried on writing.
But I didn't bury my head in the sand either. And I don't deny that I probably needed to hear what those industry experts had to say. However, what I took issue with was their attitude. It seemed to be all jaded doom-and-gloom, topped with a smidgeon of insider condescension. And yet I'd read three or four Australian debuts that year alone, so I knew there had to be gaps in that publishing stronghold, passages into the fortress somewhere.
Some time later, in a fit of masochism, I took a job in a bookshop. I highly recommend it as a gauge of serious intention to all aspiring writers. Book selling has to be the bracing cold shower to any writer's burning ambition, especially if you're writing literary fiction. If you're still typing away after sending back boxes of unsold new releases, then you really have got it bad.
The flip side to this, however, is that unpacking all the new books means you get to see what's trending in publishing, what's actually selling and sometimes (not often but, reassuringly, sometimes) those books are works by new writers. The industry has to have new material. It needs fresh voices. It's looking for the next big thing, or even the next medium-to-fairly-modest thing. And until you actually write, how do you know you're not the person to give it to them?
I'm happy to say things appear to have changed a little since that first seminar I attended. Several publishers started accepting unsolicited manuscripts in a more structured way a few years ago and others have followed suit. Check out Allen & Unwin's Friday Pitch; Penguin's Monthly Catch, Pan Macmillan's Manuscript Monday and Hachette's open submissions, among others.
2: "Overnight Success" is a Marketing Construct.
Ten years after I wrote my first short story, I got a jiffy bag in the mail. Inside it was the finished copy of my debut novel. Sounds great, right? I really showed them, didn't I? Almost … if it wasn't for the 'ten years' part, maybe?
But ten years is what it took and those years are precisely the important bit, I now realise. I wasn't actually writing the novel that whole time: I was learning how to write something publishable. Novels might be discovered by a publisher overnight but they certainly aren't written overnight. One of the lessons I've learned is that, in the majority of cases, the publication of a book and its apparent 'wildfire' success shouldn't be confused with its gestation or the period of apprenticeship the novelist took to get to the point where she could write that book. Whether that apprenticeship took the form of a series of 'bottom drawer' novels, or years writing short stories and poetry, or studying creative writing, or even simply a lifetime of careful reading, it is still an apprenticeship of sorts. Becoming good at anything takes time and patience, and writing is no exception. For me, starting to write felt like learning to read all over again – this time as a writer.
I've been a long-term student of literature as well as a teacher of it, and no one ever criticised me for wanting to learn to be a better reader. I'm at a loss, then, as to why creative writing courses (namely, learning how to be a better writer) should be so frowned upon by some in the literary community. Perhaps we secretly want to think of great writers as being born, not trained? Otherwise, anyone could have a pop at a novel, couldn't they? And then the intrinsic merit of writing as an elusive (or should that be exclusive?) art form would surely be devalued? I was as guilty as anyone of believing this when I was a young literature under-grad. And then I started meeting novelists and learning about how they work.
Many excellent writers never finish a novel while some pretty average ones manage to publish a whole shelf full. It's Edison's famous quote about genius being 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. A good quality writing course can help teach you to read as a writer (analysing structure, voice, narrative arc and the technicalities of the written form), but it can also offer practical tips for carving out the time to write, managing unproductive attitudes to your work, setting goals and deadlines and giving industry insights from other writers, publishers and agents about how to begin getting your writing into the public eye.
Writing courses can't write your novel for you, though, and signing up for them continuously without putting in the hard yards is kind of like trying to train for a marathon by only studying a sports science manual. At the end of the day, it's just you, your keyboard and 100,000-odd words (see below). But, forewarned is forearmed, and a good teacher or mentor can make that prospect seem a hell of a lot less scary to a beginner writer.
4: Being a Writer Means Actually Writing
I wish I had another novel for every time I've heard an aspiring writer (including myself) say: 'I just don't have the time to write.' There are lots of valid reasons why we tell ourselves we can't write, but most of these rapidly lose credibility if, in the next breath, we go on to analyse the latest plot twists of Breaking Bad or who got voted off The Voice. Yes, novels take time. They take a ridiculous amount of time. And yet the average Australian adult manages to dedicate 13 hours a week to watching TV, pretty much without thinking about it. Perhaps I'm being harsh. But sacrifices have to be made. Ask the tough questions and if writing doesn't come out on top, then give yourself a break. Let someone else write the novels. There's nothing wrong with that. Life's too short to put yourself over the rack for something that's not a genuine priority.
Having said that, once I'd decided it was a priority, I wished someone had told me that writing productivity does not necessarily increase when you reduce other professional work. I found that I wrote as many words when I had a part-time job and young children as I did when my kids were older and I quit work to finish my novel. And I've heard other writers speak of a similarly unproductive relationship with 'too much writing time'. Sometimes all you're doing is giving yourself even more hours to procrastinate. I wish I'd kept my day job. Then I'd have a novel and new shoes. Lack of time can sometimes make you more productive.
5: "There is no such thing as good writing, only good re-writing."
I'm a firm believer in John Irvine's famous quote. Most of my time spent writing, whether it's short stories or novels, is spent editing. And any small success I've had with getting my work published has been because I'm reluctant to let it go out into the world until it's the best I can make it. (Even when I'm thoroughly sick of it, I'm more likely to file it away than put it out there, if I don't think it's ready). You often only get one shot with an agent or publisher, so don't get so excited at finishing your draft that you forget it's still a draft. Make it the best it can be and get help if you think you need it.
6: Getting Published is the Easy Part
I know, I know, don't you hate hearing published writers say this? I used to convince myself they were lying, that they were saying it to big note themselves, or because they derived a martyr-like satisfaction recounting the endless hardships of the writing life. What is there post-publication that could seriously be harder than getting up at 5am in the middle of winter to a blank screen, having decided to cut three chapters and four months' work? Or, knowing in your heart you've got to get rid of a character and feeling like you're murdering someone in the family? Surely it's so much easier to do all this with the comfort of a publisher in the wings?
Well it's not. I got signed by a publisher before my novel was completed and the security that offered was definitely offset by knowing I was writing to please someone else not just myself. Getting signed also didn't preclude a scenario almost worse than not getting published at all, and that is thinking you're getting published, only to have your book rejected at the last. I managed to avoid this but it does happen to writers at all stages of their careers. I wished someone had told me that ongoing performance anxiety was par for the course in the writing life. Thankfully, I've just recently discovered the excellent conversations between Charlotte Wood and Alison Manning in a Mind of One's Own, which pull apart many of the psychological hurdles writers face and the self-sabotaging blocks to writing. They're like an 'on-demand' pep talk and I've found them a great help.
Before my novel was released, the only end result I focussed on, like most debut writers, was getting that published book in my hands. I now know that really is just the beginning. When I was writing the novel, I was so engrossed in its world, in my artistic integrity, in making it the best it could be, I was barely aware of the book as a business proposition, a product. And that's the way I wanted it. But the moment a book gets released, there's no denying it becomes a commodity the author must help shift. I found I was changing hats again, not from consumer to creator this time, but from creator to promoter.
As much as I'd tried to familiarise myself with the post-publication world, I wasn't prepared for just how involved I had to be in the actual marketing of my book. I'd made the grave mistake of thinking I could take some much-earned downtime between finishing my proofs and the book hitting the shelves. But this is in fact the busiest time for a writer. This is the time to take leave from your day job. This is the time to get out all those notes you took at that Marketing Your Book course you were smart enough to enrol in before it actually got published (and, no, I was not smart enough to do it before publication). This is the time you should be tweaking websites, spruiking social media, and offering giveaways in advance of release, setting up interviews, events with local libraries, bookshops and book clubs, and writing features that may help plug the book. Don't assume your publicist is going to secure any of this for you. Don't assume you are going to be able secure any of this for yourself, either. Debut fiction, especially the literary kind, is notoriously difficult to promote – which goes hand-in-hand with debut fiction being notoriously difficult to get published. Difficult, but not impossible.
There is plenty you can do and plenty of resources to teach you how. Take the knock-backs on the chin, keep plugging away, and continue until you get some takers to profile your book. After all, getting published was the easy part: you should be up for a little challenge by now!
Jo Riccioni's debut novel, The Italians at Cleat's Corner Store, is published by Scribe in Australia and the UK. Her short stories have been published in Best Australian Stories 2010 and 2011, The Age and the Review of Australian Fiction. She has a Masters in Medieval Literature, is a Varuna Fellowship Alumna and also a graduate of the inaugural Faber Writing Academy in Sydney.


text:
Crowley Neighbor Arrested For Residential Burglaries
Crowley Police Chief K.P. Gibson says police have arrested a neighbor after several homes in a neighborhood were burglarized this week.
Officers were called out to the first burglary in the area of South Avenue G and Elm Street to investigate when another call about a second home being burglarized was called in.
Gibson says investigators discovered several pieces of evidence which quickly turned their attention to neighbor Aaron Simon.
Gibson says,
"The officers on scene discovered evidence which led them to focus on a neighbor. While investigating this neighbor as a potential suspect, property from the burglaries was located at the suspects residence. The officers took the steps to identify potential leads. By doing so, officers were able to locate evidence from the crimes and eventually locate a majority of the property which was stolen at the neighbor's residence".
Police say they were also able to recover more stolen property that the suspect allegedly sold to another person. The property was later returned to the rightful owner.
The 32-year-old Crowley man was booked into the Acadia Parish jail for two counts of residential burglary.
Gibson says Simon's criminal history dates back to the year 2000, with an array of arrests for burglary and narcotics charges.
Gibson adds,
"I appreciate the hard work and dedication of the men and women of our department. Good police work has led to removing another burglar from our streets".


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227 FW 4, Exhibit 1, Consent for Release of Information
FWM#: 053 (new)
Date: December 3, 1992
Series: Personnel
Part 227: Personnel Relations and Services
Originating Office: Division of Personnel Management
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