Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me Quotes

“A boy needs a father to show him how to be in the world. He needs to be given swagger, taught how to read a map so that he can recognize the roads that lead to life and the paths that lead to death, how to know what love requires, and where to find steel in the heart when life makes demands on us that are greater than we think we can endure.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“Miss Annie, is it wrong for me to believe it was Jesus who asked my forgiveness?" I asked her.

She frowned and shook her head, "Lord, what do they teach you at that school?" she said. Then she faced me head-on. "Did God humble himself by becoming a man?" she asked, every word spoken more loudly than the one before.

"Yes, ma'am," I said. I'd never used the word ma'am before, but it seemed an excellent time to start.

"Did he humble himself by dying on the cross to show us how much he loved us? she asked, waving her spatula at me.

My eyes widened and I nodded, yes.

Miss Annie's body relaxed, and she put her hand on her hip. "So why wouldn't Jesus humble himself and tell a boy he was sorry for letting him down if he knew it would heal his heart?" she asked.

"But if Jesus is perfect--"

Miss Annie ambled the five or six feet that separated us and took my hand. "Son," she said, rubbing my knuckles with her thumb, "love always stoops.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“..."love always stoops.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“His will to live was waning, and it made him almost transparent, as though rather than dying, he might just disappear one day, leaving behind only a vague scent of regret.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“...she taught me how to ride the Dragon Coaster and what to do when you're flung into the mouth of whatever it is you think will kill you. Throw up your arms and laugh until you come out the other side.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“There is a big difference in life between a jump and a fall. A jump is about courage and faith, something the world is in short supply of these days. A fall is, well, a fall.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“More often than not, Jesus comes to us incognito.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“I carry an invisible box of jerseys with me that say "Team Ian" on the front. My goal is to convince everyone I meet to become my fan and prove it by putting on my "Team Ian" jersey. If they do, then for at least ten minutes I feel like I've won their approval and love. If I have a run of people who don't put it on, I can fall into a rut I have visited so often I should have it decorated and furnished. For me, life is like one long job interview in which I'm trying to impress everyone I meet enough to hire me. The routine is exhausting, mostly for everyone else.

I confessed this nutty practice to my spiritual director. He smiled, put his arm around my shoulder, and said, "I never trust a man without a limp.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“To be the altar boy at the first Mass of the day was a sacred initiation rite. It was like being hazed at a fraternity, only more Catholic.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“I was drunk with belonging.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“narcissists experienced profound emotional deprivation as young children, destroying their self-esteem. They compensate for the absence of self-worth they feel by acting as if they have an overabundance of it. They are grandiose, they expect to be treated as superior to other people, they act entitled, they can’t admit wrongdoing, they never apologize because they’re never to blame, and their hunger for admiration and attention is insatiable. The one trait all narcissists possess is the inability to recognize or give importance to other people’s emotions and feelings.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“The second word in AA is Anonymous, Ian. I don’t tell people I’m in recovery unless I feel it will help them get sober as well.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“Silence is the language God speaks and everything else is a bad translation. —MOTHER TERESA”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“I didn’t want to parse God—I wanted to be swept up in his glory. I didn’t want to understand the Holy One; I wanted to be consumed in his oceanic love. I yearned for heaven, and as long as it remained beyond my reach, my life was tinged with disappointment.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“Addicts are frustrated mystics waylaid by spirits. —CARL JUNG”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“I’m not saying I understood any of this as I lay there in bed that night; I didn’t. As was so often the case in my life, it was a feeling that I now know was homesickness for God.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“These kinds of experiences are not biodegradable. They float in the reservoir of memory forever.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts

“In the hands of the untalented, a clarinet is a lethal weapon. There are states that allow the sale of automatic assault weapons but ban the use of clarinets at school concerts. If played poorly, they are the sonic equivalent of Hurricane Katrina.”
― Ian Morgan Cron, Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts