Anime Lectio: Tune In to the Midnight Heart

                                                            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. 

Do you want to be good at something for the sake of other people or do you just want to be good at something for your own sake?  While it's helpful to be good at something for the sake of other people, doing that is pointless if you don't like what you're doing for other people, which should include yourself.  Focusing on doing things for the sake of other people could help you to get what you like to do for others for your own sake, but what happens when no one else, or not a lot of people, don't care?  Do you just not do it anymore or do you do it for your own sake, as well as for others anyway?  Answers to these questions can be seen in the series Tune In to the Midnight Heart.

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.

A boy who grew up listening to a girl's podcast, which included the two of them mostly talking with each other since he was the only listener, tries to find the girl when he ends up in high school and this podcast no longer exists since he promised her he would help her with her future career of using her voice somehow.  However, since the boy and the girl never thought about exchanging contact information, he only has the sound of her voice to go on.  He ends up narrowing down the choices of girls he's looking for to four who are all interested in careers that focus on using their voice.  Since he can't figure out who among the four girls he is looking for, he decides to help all four of them with what they want to do, which involves doing what they want to do for themselves, not just for other people. 

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.

It can be difficult to continue doing what you like to do without other people liking it a lot. For example, not a lot of people even view these posts that I write. While this does depend on what I write about, since each of these posts has a different amount of views depending on what I write about (and I guess how I do that is also a factor), it's still something that I like to do. It's also something that I'm interested in doing (still plan to write a book based on posts like this too - also did a panel about it too at a nearby anime convention, which I plan to try doing every year). It helps to have at least person support you directly, as well as remembering (perhaps with the help of at least one person supporting you) that other people support you indirectly, whether they be people you know or people you don't know. There are also other forms of support, like prayer.

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 support each other, and get the support we need (both direct and indirect), for what we like and want to do.