Anime Lectio: The Grimm Variations

                                                          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. 

A great way to teach people is through stories that have a lesson to them, usually known as the moral of the story.  Whatever these stories are called, like parables told by Jesus in the Bible, there's usually at least one lesson to get from each story.  People getting different things from the same story depends on things like who is listening to the story, what happens in the story, and why the story is being told.  An example of this can be seen in the anime series The Grimm Variations. 

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 order to teach their younger sister various lessons, the Grimm brothers tell her stories based on 6 different examples of stories that they themselves have actually written.  However, these 6 different examples of stories that they themselves have actually written are not told in the way they actually wrote them, but are variations based on what they wrote.  It isn't revealed why they do this, but the likely possibility is so these stories are more entertaining, understandable, and/or relatable. 

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.

What's interesting to me about the anime series The Grimm Variations is that the variations of the Grimm brothers' stories given are from the Grimm brothers themselves since it makes me think of various questions. For example, are these variations what they wanted the stories to actually be? If they wanted the stories to actually be this way, then why didn't they write them this way? And why do they tell these variations of some of their stories in the first place? These questions can be answered in various ways, which can be seen in my reflection before the brief and written explanation of the anime, as well as in the explanation itself. However, telling variations of certain stories, even if your telling a variation of your own, or one of your own, stories, is still a great way to teach people.

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 understand what stories, whether they are variations or not, as well as the people telling them and why, try to teach us.