Oh, that C.S. Lewis! How Did He Know? WHAT Did He Know?

I am such a sentimental creature! I have just finished reading Lewis’ The Silver Chair, the most recent of numberless times, and tears still start in my eyes when I read, “And out from the blackness into the moonlight - this would have been rather dreadful if one hadn’t known who they were - came, first, the long, leggy, steeple-hatted figure of the Marsh-wiggle, and then, leading two great horses, Rilian the Prince himself. …Pale though he was from long imprisonment in the Deep Lands, dressed in black, dusty, disheveled, and weary, there was something in his face and air which no one could mistake. That look is in the face of all true kings of Narnia, who rule by the will of Aslan and sit at Cair Paravel in the throne of Peter the High King. Instantly every head was bared and every knee was bent…”
The Silver Chair, at least for me where I stand today, seems to carry more symbolic meaning for today’s circumstances than any of the other Chronicles. As Aslan says to Jill at the beginning of the story, “remember, remember, remember the Signs.” How very important it is to remember, most importantly, the commandments of God, and our covenants with him to keep them. How much, how very much and how patiently through the ages He has lovingly and carefully taught us through the prophets’ words and through the whisperings of His Spirit to each of us, and has implored us to remember, remember, remember.
“Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night,” Aslan instructs. How similar are the words in Deuteronomy: “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shal write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. (6:6-9).”
Jill and Eustace go, on errand from Aslan, seeking the Lost Prince, who is, in my mind at least and I believe almost certainly in Lewis’, a type of Jesus Christ (of course, so is Aslan himself). And how lost Jesus Christ is to the world at large today, and what a journey, fraught with adventure, danger, and hard work, it is for every earnest seeker, to truly find Him. It is not for the faint-hearted or the lover of ease.
How patiently and mercifully He helps us on our way, even when we “muff the signs.” How quickly He comes to our aid when we put ourselves on the right track once again. Even through times when all around us seems a dreary wilderness, which we may be tempted to think will go on unendingly, He is walking beside us and bearing us up; and all these things ultimately “give [us] experience, and shall be for [our] good. (D&C 122:7).”
When at last we find Him, we may not quite recognize him, for he has been shackled by the Dragon, who has sought through centuries of Apostasy to disguise him, and who has enslaved the people of the earth (the Earthmen) so that they do not recognize him even when he comes among them. Well did Aslan say to Jill, “And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the Signs.” Stay close to the Spirit of truth, that “giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkened to the voice of the Spirit. And every one that hearkened to the voice of the Spirit cometh unto God, even the Father. (D&C 84:46-47).”
“And secondly,” continues Aslan, “I give you a warning. Here on the mountain [symbol of what? His temple], I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken [air of the Earthmen is very thick indeed]. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the Signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there [the Dragon, the Serpent, seeks in every age to hide and to disguise them deep in the philosophies of men]. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the Signs and believe the Signs. Nothing else matters (italics added).”
Remembering and honoring the signs, our heroes, our Everymen, release the doctrine of Christ from the “vile engine of sorcery,” the Silver Chair of Apostasy, and in so doing come to see before them the true Son of the King. With the aid of the meek and humble things of the earth, embodied in the common Marshwiggle, they conquer even the Dragon or Serpent.
Yet the fight is not over. There are men’s souls to be won, and a final struggle to be made. The bright light of the Restoration shines forth, the Earthmen awake and shake their heads as if waking from a dream, and embrace the light with joy, while the conquerors go on into the Unknown.
“Doubtless,” says the Prince, “this signifies that Aslan will be our good lord, whether he means us to live or die. And all’s one, for that.”
This is a message for our times. We face an unknown path, fraught with peril. Economic hardships, terrorism, violence on the home front, and moral entrapment and devastation all loom before us. But we have a prophet and apostles, the revealed word of the Lord, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and the covenants of baptism and the temple to guide and sustain us, with Celestial glory shining in solid light (“There I’ll pick you bunches of rubies that you can eat and squeeze you a cup full of diamond-juice.”) before us.
We have the stories of our own heroes, the Latter-day pioneers to encourage and inspire us. (While in Salt Lake City recently, I took occasion to visit the juried art exhibition in the Conference Center, “Remembering the Great Things of God.” One of the pieces was a large painting of a formidable peak in the Wasatch Range; under it was a triptych, with handcart pioneers in the first panel, facial portraits of the pioneer couple in the middle, and their Utah homestead in the third. Instantly upon taking in the whole effect, and gazing at their faces, the exhortation came to my mind as if I heard their very voices: “We did it. So can you.”).
What else can we say but what Joseph Smith exclaims in Section 128 of the Doctrine and Covenants: “Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren, and on, on to the victory!”
Prince Rilian, looking upon a task the immediate consequences of which are unknown, proclaims solemnly, “Friends, when once a man is launched on such an adventure as this, he must bid farewell to hopes and fears, otherwise death or deliverance will both come too late to save his honor and his reason.”
“ ‘Do you mean you think everything will come right if we do untie him?’ ” Eustace had inquired of the steadfast Puddleglum as they determined to set the bewitched knight free from the bonds of the Silver Chair, having seen clear evidence of the Fourth Sign but fearing the consequences of following it. “ ‘I don’t know that, said Puddleglum. “You see, Aslan didn’t tell [Jill] what would happen. He only told her what to do. That fellow will be the death of us once he’s up, I shouldn’t wonder. But that doesn’t let us off following the Sign.’
“They all stood looking at one another with bright eyes. It was a sickening moment. ‘All right!’ said Jill suddenly. ‘Let’s get it over. Good-bye everyone…!’ “
That is the kind of bidding farewell to hopes and fears to which the Prince refers: one doesn’t know the consequences of doing what’s right, one only knows that one must do it.
“In the name of Aslan.”