Anime Lectio: Journal with Witch

                                                           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. The only device you need is the one you use for this blog.

3. Deep Breathing - Open yourself to God’s Presence

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. 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 people you

know and don't know are like signs of God’s presence. 

4. 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. 

There are several ways to deal with grief, which depends on things like what you are grieving about, the people who are grieving, as well as the ones involved in the process, and how you deal with it.  There are theories, ideas, and other thoughts about grief that can help explain what the grieving process can be like, but ultimately, these are just theories, ideas, and other thoughts.  What matters is what actually happens and working with that.  An interesting example of this can be seen in the series Journal with Witch.

5. 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.

After her parents are killed in a car accident, a girl is left with relatives who argue about who should continue raising her.  Even though she doesn't know the girl, who is her niece, the sister of the girl's mother decides to raise her because she's annoyed by the situation that the girl is in now.  However, not only does she not know the girl, she also doesn't know how to raise a child, she didn't like the girl's late mother, which is made worse by the fact that she doesn't tell the girl why when asked, and doesn't even know if she can love the girl like her late mother, and the woman's sister, did.  Despite all of this though, as well as the fact that the girl's new mother is a novelist that usually focuses more on her writing than her niece (or anything else too), they manage to get along.  The girl's new mother also suggests to the girl that she keeps a journal to keep track of her feelings, which she doesn't really do, as well as know how to deal with her grief, but with the help of some friends, they both realize what they need to do in order to keep living.

6.  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.

Grief is complicated, even though there is such a thing as uncomplicated grief according to theories, ideas, and other thoughts about grief. I used to teach classes about grieving in the school on the property of the monastery where I live. While theories, ideas, and other thoughts about grief were helpful, they definitely weren't enough, even though I mostly focused on these things. If I did these classes again, then I would definitely talk about this series (and other anime too - not a whole lot actually) after talking about the theories, ideas, and other thoughts about grief since it shows, not just tells (mostly shows actually), an example of how grief can be dealt with, especially since it focuses on a teenager trying to do that. Grief is complicated no matter what, at least I think it is, and following a teenager dealing with it, which is usually what anime does (with or without adults), and is what our students do, is even more complicated. You can have all of the theories, ideas, and other thoughts about grief that you want. It means nothing if you can't apply any of it to help someone who is grieving, as well as understand that it takes more than just theories, ideas, and other thoughts about grief to help someone who is grieving and that it's different for everybody.

7. 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 that helping someone deal with their grief is more than just theory and ideas.