About Smokin’ Weed With Jesus by Clifford Beck:
The story begins in a small town near Portland, Maine where Richard, a bankruptcy attorney, has just taken part in the liquidation of a pornography store. Returning home, he makes the mistake of reaching back for the one thing that soothes the guilt of separating others from their livelihood, and drives headlong into an oncoming vehicle. His body, badly broken, Richard is whisked off to Portland’s Maine Medical Center where he hovers between life and death. As he is about to undergo surgery, he slips into a near-death experience and mysteriously finds himself standing in a familiar-looking place, confused about where he is and how he got there.
But some distance away, sits a man appearing to be dressed as though he had just stepped out of the summer of love. Sitting next to him, Richard surprisingly discovers that this man is none other than Jesus of Nazareth. The ensuing conversation is largely based on Jesus’ calm criticism of humankind, religion, and the need for change in order to foster progress.
The conversation comes to a close with Richard receiving both a mission and a gift, He returns to the human world profoundly changed with the memory of his experience intact, and carrying out the Messiah’s request, he resumes his life with new purpose and an ability that only he possesses. ‘Smokin’ Weed With Jesus’ is an irreverent, humorous criticism given by the King of the Jews and takes aim at the root cause of the world’s problems – our problems. What this book is not is political. The issues that have plagued human history rely on a far more fundamental cause, and it is the author’s goal to present not only the cause but the simplicity of coping with them.
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Author Bio:
A native of Upstate New York, Clifford Beck received the bulk of his education at the State University of New York at Albany. His writing began with experiments in poetry, inspired by ancient literature. Later, he attended Southern Maine Technical College, earning a degree in New Media. His work is largely an exploration into human darkness and the dynamics of madness. Having a background in design and illustration, he also creates the cover art for his novels
Now a resident of Portland, Maine, he tends to write what speaks to him the loudest, occasionally relying on music for inspiration. But, ideas have always come to him during the most unlikely of situations, and is always with pen and pad at the ready. During the course of his life, he has been seen as someone in possession of a rather peculiar personality but has come to accept this as a commonality among writers in general and an expression of what makes the mind of a writer tick.
He has most of his life in the helping professions and has witnessed a good deal of human suffering. Using his work as a tool of reflection, he brings these experiences to the surface in the form of ideas pertaining to social issues and the direction the world appears to be taking. Additionally, having renounced Christianity, Mr. Beck has discovered that without the constraints of religion, he is able to paint the darkness of human nature on a much broader canvas. And using a strong sense of visual imagery, is able to bring his novels to life, immersing the reader in a world governed by a unique and separate reality.