Anime Lectio: The Faraway Paladin

                                                             1. Why do Anime Lectio? 

Anime Lectio is a time for us to stop and take a breath. Between work, activities, family life, and social media, our minds are always moving. We rarely take time to contemplate and ask, why am I watching this anime? What’s the point of all this? And, how is this making me feel? 

2. Put away all distractions 

(phones, work, etc.)

We are so enslaved to things that stimulate our minds. Let this be a moment for us to free our minds, look inside of ourselves, and be at peace.

3. Deep Breathing

Take several deep breaths. Let your mind relax. If you’ve had any questions, desires, or struggles that you’ve been hiding or stuffing away, let them rise up to the surface. 

4. Open yourself to God’s Presence

Remember God places all our thoughts and desires inside of us, and He uses them to draw us closer to Himself. God gives us a community to help us understand who we are and what He is calling us to do. The faces of other people you know and don't know are like signs of God’s presence.  

5. Think About What’s on Your Mind in Relation to the Anime

Think about what’s been on your mind in relation to the anime.  The following is an example of such thoughts written by me.  

We are all born to find out more about ourselves. Even if we face situations in our lives that make finding out more about ourselves difficult, like not knowing, either fully or entirely, how we ended up where we are, finding out more about ourselves is still important in order to understand who we are and what we are to do.

6. Brief and written explanation of the anime

Pay attention to how the brief and written explanation of the anime seen on this blog, or seeing the anime for yourself since that's better than any explanation, might “speak” to you or shed light on the things that have been on your minds.

In the anime series The Faraway Paladin, a boy with unknown origins is raised by three undead beings who find him as an infant. They teach the boy what they know, which involves magic, knowledge of magic and other things, and how to fight without magic. He also learns about the powerful gods and goddesses of the world and that choosing one for protection is important. After his adventures with his undead parents end when he reaches a certain age, and they die for real, he starts going on adventures on his own, honoring his adopted parents by creating a name for himself (last name and middle initial) based on their names with the protection of the goddess he has chosen. As he starts his own adventures, he makes new friends and allies that help him fight enemies and in his mission of spreading the protection and word of the goddess that helps him.

7.  Reflect on the anime

Has this brief and written explanation of the anime shed any light on what's been on your minds?  The following is an example of a reflection on the anime from me.

Finding out more about yourself after you're born is bound to happen. This is true whether you're born into a biological family without being adopted, like me, or adopted after not knowing, never knowing, or eventually knowing, your biological family, like the main character of this anime, who doesn't find out about his biological family in the first season (second season?). Whether you are born and raised by your biological family or raised by an adopted family is important since it can influence the path in life you take, as well as what you do on this path. This also includes where the path takes you without the family always being with you physically when you start to live on your own/without them.

8. Final Prayer

Please voice any prayer intentions for friends, family, or people around the world that relate to this anime.  The following is an example written by me.

Let us pray that we can all find out more about ourselves on the path of life that we are on and remember the importance and influence of our families and friends, and other experiences, on our paths.