Anyone seen this?

[Akira Takahashi]

After I finished watching the Japanese animated Romeo X Juliet, and Shakespear stopped spinning in his grave, I went on a search for something a little more fulfilling spiritually and wound up watching Haibane Renmei at the insistence of some members over on the Christian Anime Alliance forums.  I've got to say, so far it's been amazing.  Hey, I know that sometimes people say that TV is a distraction, but at times there's a rare gem that really brings me closer to God.

Beware, a ramble is ahead, so skip to the end if you want to miss the rant about how a person can be touched by themes in something as silly as a television show.

For example, I was a very suicidal teenager.  I kept a rope by my bed at all times, thinking that one day I'd hang myself in the woods outside.  I was shuffled from psychologist to psychologist (they inspired me to be a psychology major, but I left after turning antipsychiatry - go figure), I would collapse in a fit of exhaustion after long prayers, for they were the only things to keep me from going over the edge; and I finally did attempt suicide when I was 17.

My church was in a mess.  We didn't have a preacher and were relying on guest speakers, the majority of which just weren't interesting.  Believe it or not, but I'd never actually heard a sermon on grace before, and if I did, then I probably wasn't paying attention.  Anyway, my cousin came up to visit one summer and brought his anime collection with him and insisted that we watch all of a series call Trigun, which is a secular, action-packed show wrapped up in the theme of grace.  Heck, it's the only show I've watched where our protagonist doesn't want to blow his main enemy off the face of the planet but to help him come to repentence!  It was an amazing peice of work, and I still remember one of the quotes: "People who sin say this, that they had to, to survive. People who sin say this, that it's too late now to stop. The shadow called Sin dogs them steadily from behind, silently, without a word. Remorse and Agony are repeated, only to end up at Despair in the end. But the sinners just don't know, that if they'd only turn around, there is a light there, a light which keeps shining on them ever so warmly. A light that will never fade."

In many ways, that show helped me to find God's grace (it also apparently helped the writer - Yoshiro something-or-other - as he converted to Christianity as he wrote it), and now I've found another one that is strangely calling me.

Anyway, someone at CAA made a Sunday School lesson plan for it (http://www.christiananime.net/showthread.php?t=24573&page=1&pp=10, if anyone wants to check it out.  There's a lot of spoilers, but I found that reading through all the discussion was much more fun than the lesson you can download at the end of it all.  Oh well.  I wonder if anyone would ever let me use the lesson plan for my church, but that probably won't happen anytime soon.  Too bad I didn't stumble upon this series sooner.

Thoughts, comments?  Maybe something similar touched you?  Maybe you want more information about this series or any other series I mentioned in my lengthy post?  I've got to stop rambling so much.  Ironically, I'm very quiet and introverted in real life...

[Molly]

You are a wonderful writer.  You know, I keep seeing this message all the time now in all different sorts of media.  It's like he is going after the lost sheep with a vengence these days, scooping them into the nest, carrying them back.  In messages that I wouldn't recognize as Christian, I am seeing Christ all of a sudden.  It's remarkable, really.  He is pouring out his Spirit and his grace, in ways that a generation which has turned its back on God can hear.

I know someone who prayed a Budhist prayer for help over several years.  Jesus was the one who showed up to answer it.

[Akira Takahashi]

You are a wonderful writer.  You know, I keep seeing this message all the time now in all different sorts of media.  It's like he is going after the lost sheep with a vengence these days, scooping them into the nest, carrying them back.  In messages that I wouldn't recognize as Christian, I am seeing Christ all of a sudden.  It's remarkable, really.  He is pouring out his Spirit and his grace, in ways that a generation which has turned its back on God can hear.

I know someone who prayed a Budhist prayer for help over several years.  Jesus was the one who showed up to answer it.t

It's very interesting that way, isn't it?  So many people seem to think that if God isn't the center of a movie, or if the movie isn't targeted at a Christian audience, that God can't work through it.  I actually find the opposite to be true in that I typically benefit more from "secular" shows and books than Christian films and novels, which use the same tired old themes for every single plot.  Christian texts are fine, but their fiction is typically bland.

[Akira Takahashi]

Reviving death thread alert!  However, I found the Faith in Film site for this anime. http://faithinfilm.mrrr.net/