Anime Lectio: Atri - My Dear Moments

                                                          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. 

Having a heart usually means you have emotion to care about things, whether these things be other people, either one other person and/or select groups of people, places, or objects.  While making decisions with your brain (mind) is a good idea, it's also a good idea to consider other things when making decisions, like following your heart, especially if the decision involves something you care about.  For example, something that I care about a lot is my interest in anime and while using your brain (mind) to make decisions on how to share this interest is definitely a good idea, it's also a good idea to involve your heart in making these decisions.  Another example of this can be seen in the anime series Atri - My Dear Moments.

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.

A city that some kids, and one adult, still live in has mostly been abandoned due to rising sea levels.  One boy in this city uses a submarine to go find things underwater that can be sold for money, as well as for other reasons.  On one of his dives, he finds a girl in some sort of container, which he brings back to the surface.  This girl happens to be a humanoid created by the boy's grandmother, who gave this humanoid a task that she can't remember.  Since the boy happens to be missing a leg due to a childhood accident, the humanoid girl figures the task is to be the boy's missing leg, meaning to help him with what he tries to do, which is to restore the city to what it once was with the help of the other kids, and one adult, who have also stayed behind.  Everyone grows attached to this humanoid girl over time, especially the boy with the missing leg, despite what they initially think, as well as others trying to get rid of her since she's defective, but the humanoid girl eventually realizes what her actual task is.  This actual task is to be the power source for a new city that they find that wouldn't be affected by rising sea levels, which the humanoid eventually wants to do after thinking about it, even if it means not being able to see anyone she cares about, as well as those who care about her, for 70 years.  After 70 years have passed, the humanoid girl is no longer needed to power this city since other ones have been created during the 70 years that have passed.  Technology has also advanced in that time since the boy with the missing leg can still spend time with the humanoid girl because of it.

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.

When watching the last episode of this series, it made me think about the paradox of the heart, meaning while you do care about one other specific person because you have a heart, you also care about other people for the same reason, which leads to making decisions to save others because you care about, even if you can't be with the ones you care about, and who care about you, due to these decisions. Most of what led to the final episode dealt with whether or not the humanoid girl has a heart since while she seemed to care about what she was doing, as well as why, it also seemed like she was doing that because she was doing what she was told to do. The decision to do something that would save others at the cost of being able to spend more time with them is a decision that she ultimately made herself by following what she thought and felt. The ability to have feelings and emotions is what people, including herself, to believe that she has a heart, even if she actually doesn't. Not only is it important to realize that making decisions for ourselves is ultimately up to us, but it's also important to realize what having a heart really means.

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 it means to make decisions and to have a heart.