I started listening to
The Chronicles of Narnia again on my drives (usually when I've picked up my kids, since
Harry Potter and
Percy Jackson might be a little mature for a six-year-old or a three-year-old. Every other time I've read or listened to the series, I did it chronologically (my brain likes it that way). This time I'm going in release order and my plan is to highlight one character per book along the way. First up: Edmund.
“You have a traitor there, Aslan. … You know that every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have a right to a kill.” — Jadis ("The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe")
After Edmund betrayed his family and allied himself with the White Witch, things went downhill for him very fast. He was abused and beaten down, physically and mentally. It was miraculous that Aslan's forces were able to find him and rescue him from the clutches of death, at the hand of Jadis. As the Witch said, he was a traitor and she could rightfully condemn him to death. Why she had that authority? Not sure, but the fact is that she could.
Every Narnia fan knows that Aslan's sacrifice for Edmund represents the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Aslan died on the stone table to save someone fated for death, just as the Savior allowed himself to be killed on the cross to save humanity, doomed for eternal damnation. But even before the physical sacrifice, Aslan changed Edmund's heart.
“There is no need to talk to your brother about what is past.” — Aslan ("The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe")
Aslan didn't simply absolve Edmund of his treachery; he changed the nature of the future king. And his brother and sisters were instructed to not talk any further about his mistake. Edmund was a "new creature" (2 Corinthians 5:17) and deserved to be treated as such.
“When we repent, when we confess and forsake our sins, the Lord says He remembers them no more. It is not that He forgets; rather, in a remarkable way, it seems He chooses not to remember them, nor need we.” — Elder Gong (“Trust Again”)
I'm sure we've all heard the question countless times about why we remember our past sins so clearly, even though God has forgotten them. Alma the Younger explains this idea clearly when he said he could "remember [his] pains no more." (Alma 36:19) Yes, Alma could remember his sins. But he was able to use his past to teach and testify of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, making him and his friends some of the most powerful missionaries in The Book of Mormon. After "a mighty change of heart" (Alma 5:14) I'm not the same man anymore. Every time we repent we continue to grow and change through the Atonement. I like to think I was pretty mature for a freshman at BYU, but I'm not the same person sixteen years later. Yet there are lessons from my past that I can use to bless others.
“Even a traitor may mend. I have known one that did.” —King Edmund (“The Horse and His Boy”)
As a grown man and king, Edmund testified of his change and his family continued to tell the story of the wardrobe. He used that story and testimony to feel compassion for Prince Rabadash. The prince of Calormen didn't accept that mercy, but it still says something about Edmund that he offered the forgiveness.
I hope each of us can use Edmund's example to quit dwelling on mistakes of the past. I know I could do better at replaying the shame of past sins. As Aslan told the Pevensies, “There is no need to talk...about what is past.” Yes, we can use those experiences to bear testimony, but that's different from "harrowing up" ourselves when God has already moved on. Easier said than done, but that's my prayer for myself and for all of us.
PS: I will reserve judgment of the upcoming adaptation of The Magician's Nephew until I see it.
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