"March Comes in Like a Lion." is an anime that I have been engrossed in lately, there's something about the deliberate pacing, the quiet moments between dialogue, the way the camera lingers on a steaming cup or a character's contemplative expression that feels like a prayer.
We live in a hyperconnected world, where notifications ping every few seconds and productivity culture demands we optimize every moment and as someone who has a hard time slowing down and being mindful about my present time and surroundings, this anime was a reminder that constantly moving doesn't mean progress. A scripture comes to mind as write this piece,
1Kings 19:1–13, "Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them."
Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.
The Lord Appears to Elijah
And the word of the Lord came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
He replied, "I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
The Lord said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by."
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
I picked up three teachings from this scripture:
- Like any other human on earth Elijah forgot he wasn't the only on who was going through tough times. 2. Elijah who had just performed a mighty miracle by calling down fire from heaven wasn't mindful of his present, he had forgotten that God was with him. 3. Just like Elijah we often tend look for God in the noise and just as God revealed to Elijah that the only way to hear from the God is in silence, we cannot hear him with all the noise
Truth is we all need to learn the act of mindfulness, learning to focus on the now rather than being caught in the past and burdened by the future. This is a concept that I much like everyone has struggled with, and I am learning to embrace more often. In the next post we will be breaking down further the Act of Mindfulness.