Anime Lectio: Aura

                                                              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. 

Imagining that you are someone else and actually being someone else when no one else around you is doing that is like playing pretend.  It helps when at least one other person plays along with the game of pretend and helps the person, or people, playing pretend realize what they are actually doing.  An example of this can be seen in the anime movie Aura.

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.

When a boy goes to his school at night to get something that he forgot, he finds his missing classmate there pretending to be and do something else.  The boy used to be like this too, so in order to help the girl, he plays along with what she does when he brings her back to class, even though most of the other students are annoyed by this and even the boy gets annoyed by this after dealing with all of this for a while.  The girl decides to do something in order to leave this world, but the boy figures out a way to stop her by relying on what he used to pretend to be and do, which succeeds and both continue their lives like everyone else.

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.

Imagining that you are someone else, as well as somewhere else and doing something else, can be easy (I do it a lot), but actually living out what you imagine is difficult, especially if it's not realistic. I guess this can be easier if you're younger since playing pretend is more acceptable when you're younger, but growing up is realizing that playing pretend only works if it's realistic and can work. It also helps to have other people help you figure this out and see what's real and what's not by actually talking with them, which I need to do more of myself, not just imagining 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 how we can use our imaginations and talk with people about that.