LETTERS FROM PRISON: TAYLOR JOHNATAKIS 122923

Taylor Johnatakis

December 29th 2023

Barbara, thank you for your new letter, as I read through it I was deeply impressed by the simple story of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” where Charles Schultz used children’s voices, no laugh track and had Luke 2: 8-14 be included in the broadcast. As a child I watch “a Charlie Brown Christmas” many many times. It takes a lot of strength to publicly advocate for Christ. The world wants to dismiss his fantastic story as fiction or something fit only for children’s tales. But Schultz, like Christ, had the wisdom to tell the story in children’s voices.

Christ said the Kingdom of heaven is like a little child, I know of no more inquisitive creature than a little child. Little children also are inclined to believe all things. When we approach life as believers and ask questions we are given the gift to see The Wonder of creation, versus the questions and disbelief of the skeptic which eventually leads to nihilism and a view of the world as one without purpose and meaning. I used to do a lot of real estate and spent considerable time in Des moines, it’s a cool town. My family lives in Kingston on the Kitsap peninsula. I miss them dearly. Missing Thanksgiving, Christmas and my youngest son’s birthday has been very difficult. My wife and I continually remind ourselves not to be concerned with all the cares of the day but to “consider the lilies of the field how they toil not but are adored greater than Solomon’s temple”. Often times on a difficult day as we hang up the phone on our calls we say “remember the lilies”. God’s timing is not our timing. I do wish I could just fall asleep and wake up to see the tapestry God is weaving. But his desire is that we see each step of the way, to watch as he turns simple thread into a great work of Art. I pray I know my place, I pray for strength to carry on, it has been only a short time for me, and I am daunted by what lays ahead, but I trust the path will be illuminated as I take these few steps forward with my head held high. I do miss how Mount Rainier towers over the Puget sound, even from Kingston polsbo (?) area it’s visible. I have an old copy of backpackers magazine which is photos amounts of Mount Ranier and parts of the Pacific Crest trail in Washington state. Being in this box, without fresh air, does make the memories of the fresh Pacific Northwest super vivid.

Take a big hreathe of that Pacific Northwest Air for me!

God bless

Taylor Johnatakis

www.peasantsperspective.com

Taylor Johnatakis