Anime Lectio: Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

                                                            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. 

What is true is different for everyone.  What some people accept as the truth may not be accepted as truth to others.  Fighting for what you believe to be true can be done in many ways, usually starting with argument and/or discussion, which can lead to violence that even results in death.  Such fighting for the truth doesn't end with certain people as people who fight for truth can be killed, but not truth itself.  An example of this can be seen in the series Orb: On the Movements of the Earth.

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.

Taking place in a time when the theory of heliocentrism, the theory that the planets revolve around the sun, is considered a heresy, or a teaching that goes against the Church, since it's accepted that the Earth is the center of the universe, some people risk their lives in order to prove what is true, which is what they are interested in. This starts with a brilliant boy who has a bright future, but is more interested in proving what is true, even if it costs him his life, which it does. This then continues when other people find his work, which is continued by a monk, a guy who agrees to help him, and the daughter of an inquisitor, or someone who fights heresy, even though the daughter is interested in heliocentrism. When the monk and guy who agrees to help him are killed, the daughter of the inquisitor continues their work several years later as the leader of a group that fights to protect heliocentrism, but they are eventually defeated. Heliocentrism continues because ideas behind it influence the thinking of a new character interested in studying at a university, which leads to his thinking influencing one of his students to prove that the theory of heliocentrism is correct.

                                                                 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 interests me the most about this series, and how I think it can be understood, is seen by the fact that the title of the last episode is a question mark. There are many ways to understand truth, as seen in the series since it's heavy on interesting dialogue, but the important thing to remember is that truth can't easily be killed like a person. While there are many characters in this series that are killed during it, heliocentrism, representing the truth, survives throughout the series thanks to the people who fought to protect it, even if it meant dying in order to do that.

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 truth means, including the fact that there are many ways to understand it.