Matt Mikalatos, a former missionary who’s served across the world, has always known he wanted to write comics one day — a dream that’s now been fulfilled with the release of “God With Us: Bible Stories on the Road to Emmaus.” Although this is his first graphic novel, it’s not his first written work by any means. A longtime writer and author, Matt has crafted screenplays for movies like “Legacy Creek” (2022, Affirm Originals); young adult novels such as “The Sunlit Lands” series; nonfiction books like “Loving Disagreement” (coauthored with Kathy Khang) and “Praying With Saint Nicholas” and more.

Today, Matt’s getting honest about the things that make life both hard and wonderful — from his favorite Mexican restaurants in the Portland area to his obsession with crows, his struggle with asking for help and how he listens for God’s voice through stories (on the screen and the page).

QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT

The meals we enjoy are about so much more than the food we eat. So how does a “go-to” meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind your web bio?

I’m a West Coast boy, so Mexican food has been a staple in our family my whole life. We currently live near Portland, Oregon, in an area of town with a large Latino population. I count maybe 12 Mexican places within walking distance from our place. They’re all delicious (yes, we’ve tried them all!), but my favorites are El Rinconcito (for that classic California border-style Mexican), Muchas Gracias (which is like sitting down at your favorite taco stand in Mexico) and La Valentina (a new place — and our current favorite sit-down restaurant).

Right now, El Rinconcito is top of my list, and I’ll pretty much always get a burrito with pollo asado, which comes served with a grilled onion and a seared jalapeño. Oh, man. My mouth is watering right now. The chicken is perfectly cooked, the beans are smoky and the whole burrito is browned on the grill. Telemundo is on the TV, mariachi music is playing in the background, and the food comes out hot and perfect every time.

My wife and I speak “restaurant Spanish,” but my three daughters all grew up in classes that were about half Latino/Latina, and all three of them are fluent Spanish speakers. It’s fun that there’s some real community in these places. I used to see the guy who hands me my burrito at Muchas Gracias at school when we were both picking up our kids, for instance. And our kids have been on soccer teams together and so on.

QUESTION #2: REVEAL

We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activity do you love engaging in that also helps you find essential spiritual renewal?

Did you know that we’ve mostly cracked the language of crows? It’s true. You can listen to their various calls and know what they’re saying. There’s a call that means “Hey! There’s a hawk over there! Everybody, mob it!” And there’s a similar one if an eagle comes nearby. There’s a call to tell other crows where there’s food. And my personal favorite: “Hey! I’m a crow! Right here in this tree!” In other words, “In case anyone was wondering, here’s who I am and where I am.” I love that one.

My family teases me about how much I love crows. I’ll point them out, translate for them and watch them harass a hawk all day long.

Crows are a universal human experience. Every human being on earth has seen a crow because crow populations are tied to human ones. Throughout history, there’s been at least one crow for every human family on earth. As our population increases, so does theirs. I don’t think God would gift us so many crows unless he was trying to tell us something.

What I love is that maybe, just maybe, God has sent us these little black-winged angels with a message. Even if it’s just a reminder that every once in a while we should shout at the top of our lungs, “Hey! Over here! In case anyone was wondering, this is who I am!”

QUESTION #3: CONFESS

Every superhero has a weakness; every human too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re all broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite and how do you confront its power head-on?

I’m terrible at telling other people what I need. Even if I manage to let someone know what my needs are, the next step — asking for help — is equally painful and difficult. The great irony is that I love helping other people, and I’m always paying close attention to them so I can volunteer assistance.

This plays out with me expecting other people to notice my needs (in the same way I notice theirs) and then volunteer to help me (like I do with others). When that doesn’t happen, there can be a variety of results: I don’t get the help I need and I burn out, crash or get crushed. Or I find a way to help myself but at a much greater personal cost than if I got help from others. Or I get (secretly) angry at others that they don’t notice my needs even though I haven’t volunteered them, and then I get bitter about it.

I suspect this is partly scar tissue from being a heavy legalist in my past. I needed to be as perfect as possible, which meant not admitting problems. It may also partly be my personality: I’m sometimes legitimately surprised no one knew I was suffering or in need — I thought they would notice.

QUESTION #4: FIRE UP

Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?

I decided when I was 12 or 13 that I was going to make comics someday. And this year, that dream finally came true!

My first graphic novel is called “God With Us: Bible Stories on the Road to Emmaus.” It’s a funny, beautiful story about four travelers (the aunt and uncle of Jesus and two neighbor kids) who meet the resurrected Jesus on the road but don’t recognize him. He tells them stories from the Jewish Scriptures about himself, and they tell him stories from their own experience with him. Incredible, emotionally powerful art from Dave Shephard; amazing colors by Whitney Cogar; and top-notch work by a full village of editors, designers, project managers, etc. (including author Sarah Parker Rubio, who is my dear friend and editor).

If you have kids, you’ve probably run across one of the many comic-book Bibles, which are basically adaptations of Scripture. In “God With Us,” Jesus and other characters in the book tell Bible stories, but it’s also an original story with people who are wrestling with personal issues, asking questions, living life and having revelations. Think of it like “The Chosen” but a comic book that’s totally accessible to kids as well as adults.

One of the folks working on this project told me they got “Holy Spirit goose bumps” while reading the book. I love that. It’s funny to say it this way, but as a kid, Jesus and comics were both extremely formative in my life. So it’s really moving to get to bring them together in this way!

QUESTION #5: BOOST

Cashiers, CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?

Here’s an example of how it sometimes happens for me.

I was speaking at a writer’s event in Seattle, and I went for a neighborhood walk in the U District. I was praying about my writing and about the event that evening, and then I felt something tugging at my hat. I reached up to see what it was and … it was a crow! (Yes, yes, we’re back to crows. Welcome to my poor family’s life.)

The crow landed on a branch at my eye level, sharpened its beak on the branch, cocked its head sideways and looked at me as if to say, “What are you going to do about it?” It wasn’t angry or cawing or protecting territory. It seemed like maybe it was being mischievous. Just a crow who was out looking for a good time.

It would be easy to just write that off as a weird little moment. But I immediately felt that it was important and meant something — like the feeling you might get in a dream.

When a crow takes your hat and laughs it off when you notice, what does that mean?

So much of writing, so much of art, so much of spirituality even is about the human impulse to find meaning. Maybe God gifted me that crow as a reminder that the world around us is important and overflowing with meaning — and that it’s OK to be mischievous and have a little fun along the way.

QUESTION #6: inspire

Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you in this season?

I’m learning to listen for God’s voice in the things I love most. Not just people and not just crows. For instance, I love storytelling of all kinds: movies, comics, novels, Broadway plays, you name it. So I’m cultivating a listening ear for God’s voice even when those stories aren’t being told by people of faith. Where is my heart or spirit responding to something deeper in the work? Is God speaking in the midst of that?

I guess it’s a kind of listening prayer. We know that God speaks in many ways, and in Scripture, we see God speak through prophets, the written Word, stories, donkeys, a star, natural events, dreams and visions. Is it that weird to think that we might have an intense spiritual experience while watching an episode of “Adventure Time” or reading a beautifully written novel?

I’m trying to think of a recent example, and this feels like a cheat because it’s a very religious movie, but I recently watched the movie “Conclave.” It’s a fictional account of a cardinal who is leading the other church leaders in choosing the next pope. It’s a stunning critique of the self-interest, backstabbing, secrets and conspiracies embedded in religious organizations. But also, by the end of the movie, I was struck by this incredible hope about the presence of God in the midst of the church despite all those things.

QUESTION #7: FOCUS

Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what top three resources stand out to you? What changed reality and your heart?

I’m going to cheat on this answer. I’m going to give you three nonfiction books and three novels!

“Mystery and Manners” by Flannery O’Connor. If you’re a Christian artist and especially if you’re a writer, this is a book that is insightful, spiritual and worth revisiting.

“Prayer” by Richard Foster. This book is like a tour of prayer techniques and was really helpful for me in trying some new things I’d never done before. I discovered some that really resonated with me along the way.

“All About Love” by bell hooks. If you haven’t read bell hooks, you are missing out. She has an incredible way of making you see important things in the world in a completely new and unexpected way. This is a great place to start.

For fiction, I’ll start with “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck wasn’t a Christian, but I believe this is one of the great Christian novels. Its entire arc wrestles with whether or not human beings can overcome sin in their lives. Timshel!

“Silence” by Shūsako Endō. One of the great Japanese novels, it’s about Christianity (and persecution) coming to Japan.

“Boxers” and “Saints” by Gene Luen Yang. These are two of my favorite graphic novels. They tell intertwined stories of a young man who follows the gods of his ancestors and a young Christian woman, and it’s set during the Boxer Rebellion in China.

We all have things we cling to to survive or even thrive in our fast-paced, techno-driven world. How have you been successful in harnessing technology to aid in your spiritual growth?

Two quick answers:

1. SacredSpace.ie is a website run by Jesuit monks. It starts with some reminders to keep you focused in prayer, and then gives you a daily Bible verse and encourages you to talk it out with God. There’s little to no commentary; it’s just a tool to focus me on Jesus. When I’m reading spiritual nonfiction or commentaries, I can get caught up in asking if I agree with them, distracted by their great writing or distracted by my own critiques of the book. This website keeps me focused on just one thing: a conversation with Jesus.

2. The First Nations Version of the Bible is a translation for Indigenous peoples. It captures a Native oral tradition and way of talking about Jesus that I find surprising and beautiful, and it shakes me out of my familiarity with the Bible and lets me hear it again for the first time. For instance, this is part of the Lord’s Prayer: “Bring your good road to us, where the beauty of your ways in the spirit-world above is reflected in the earth below.” Man, it just makes me stop and actually listen to what the Creator is saying. It has been an invigorating force in my spiritual life.

QUESTION #8: dream

God’s continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?

“God With Us,” my first graphic novel, is not going to be the last! I have another coming out next year that I can’t talk about yet. But I’ll just say it’s a delightful fantasy adventure, and it’s going to be amazing.

The other thing I talk about with my family all the time in addition to crows is Saint Nicholas. He’s a historical person that really speaks to our fraught political and cultural moment right now. Born in the waning days of the Roman Empire, he experienced persecution at the hands of the government, including being thrown in prison for years. But by the end of his life, Christianity was the official religion of the empire and Nicholas was being given state money to feed the poor and keep the roads repaired. In both those spiritually dangerous positions — when tempted to deny Christ to avoid torture or to increase political power — Nicholas stayed true. And all the stories we have about him are about his love for children, his care for orphans and the vulnerable and his desire to take care of those in need. And of course, he was alive when the church officially celebrated Christmas for the first time too. Anyway, I’ve got a book called “Praying With Saint Nicholas” coming out in November!

If, like Matt, you struggle with asking others for help, you may identify with Martha. When Jesus came to visit Martha, Lazarus and Mary, Martha wanted everything to be perfect for him. So she went to work, organizing bedrooms, cooking food, setting the table — all while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to him.

After a while of no one noticing Martha’s pressing needs, she exploded with frustration: “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me” (Luke 10:40, ESV).

Take a moment to reimagine the scenario: what if Martha had mentioned her needs earlier on? What if she had asked Jesus what he wanted her to do instead of jumping into action? When we feel overwhelmed, how can we invite Jesus into our situation before resentment sets in?

Matt Mikalatos