Anime Lectio: Children of the Sea

                                                          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.

It's difficult to make friends. Making friends depends on many things, like who you can talk to and with, who you want to talk to and with, and who you need to talk to and with. It's easier if you live in community since you live with people you should be friends with (should be at least friendly with and to, even when you disagree about things), but the effort to make friends and be friendly still exists.  

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 movie Children of the Sea, a young girl has difficulty making friends with, and being friendly towards, her classmates due to what she thinks is a lack of fairness of how they are treated or favoritism. When their summer break starts, the girl spends time by herself and goes to an aquarium she went to a lot growing up since her parents also work there. While she's there, she sees a child in one of the tanks swimming with the other aquatic creatures. She finds this child, who introduces her to another child like him, and they become friends, having several adventures together and learning about each other.

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.

Making friends is difficult for several reasons, but there's also several reasons as to why keeping them is difficult. For example, despite liking each other for a certain reason, even if you don't know what that certain reason really is, there can still be differences between you, like differences in what you think, believe, and where you come from, which involves other things that makes the friendship even more difficult. Differences don't have to bad and can even ad to the friendship(s) depending on what these differences are.

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 cannot only make, but keep friends despite differences, as well as understanding that these differences don't have to be bad and can add to the friendship.