The Silver Chair

Again we see in the work of C.S. Lewis this theme of forgetting and remembering. It would seem that his purpose for writing is to provide entertaining stories so that we might remember our salvation. In the Silver Chair, the rightful prince of Narnia has been lost for ten years. Aslan has sent Eustace and his friend Jill, to help find where Prince Rilian has gone. As the story goes on we see that Prince Rilian has been under an enchantment of an evil witch that does not allow him to remember who he is and imprisons him to the underworld. There is a silver chair which he is bound to one hour a day during which time his normal mind returns to him. All other times he is completely under the power of the witch, who has the plan to conquer Narnia and rule with the Prince.

In the beginning of the story Eustace and Jill are given signs to follow. Jill is told to memorize these signs and follow them so that they are able to rescue the Prince. Throughout the story they consistently mess up these signs and do not follow the guidance that Aslan gave them at the beginning of the story. Subsequently they fall into many troubles and close calls, but it would seem that Aslan is still guiding their steps as they escape. Finally, in the end they are able to remember the final sign that Aslan gave them and this allows them to save Prince Rilian from the spell of the witch.

Remembering what we are suppose to be doing is key to the Christian life as well. We consistently find that we dull, drift and harden our hearts to the Word of God. In Hebrews we find that the Lord says we should be past these elementary elements of the faith but still we need spiritual basics for the Christian life. The encouragement from this story is that Aslan was always aware of the steps his children were taking. In much the same way we must remember and realize the salvation of our great Creator. When we truly realize the nature of grace given to us in Christ, obedience follows. The act of remembering and realizing is always before us in our walk with God.