Wisdom from a Marsh Wiggle

What an Endearing Doomsdayer Teaches Us

One of my favorite characters from Narnia is the Marsh-Wiggle Puddleglum from The Silver Chair. He’s such an endearing doomsdayer, who is also quite brave, even if he doesn’t think he is. If you aren’t familiar with this Narnian story, it’s the tale of Eustace and his school mate Jill Pole as they are called to Narnia to help find King Caspian’s lost son, Prince Rilian. Before the adventure in Narnia starts, Aslan shares four signs Jill must remember, the last one being “you will know the lost prince (if you find him) by this, that he will be the first person you have met in your travels who will ask you to do something in my name, in the name of Aslan.”

As are all the Narnian tales, it’s fantastic and has one of my favorite scenes of all the books. It’s when they finally encounter the lost prince. But they don’t realize it at first, due to an enchantment. When he is tied up for the night (he was tricked into believing it was for his own good) on the Silver Chair, it is the only time he is in his right mind and free of the enchantment and so beseeches Eustace, Jill, and Puddleglum to free him from the chair. They hesitate as they have no reason to believe him and think he really will harm them if they do.

I love this scene. As Rilian cries out Aslan’s name, Jill and Eustace still aren’t sure if they should free him, even though it was the last sign given by Aslan. Puddleglum’s response?

“Oh, if only we knew!” said Jill.

“I think we do know,” said Puddleglum.

“Do you mean you think everything will come right if we do untie him?” said Scrubb.

“I don’t know about that,” said Puddleglum. “You see, Aslan didn’t tell Pole 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.”

For Puddleglum there is no question as to whether or not they should follow through with Aslan’s instructions. What comes after isn’t their concern, but only that they follow Aslan.

When God calls us to do something, He doesn’t show us what will come after. He simply calls us to obedience. We see this throughout the pages of the Bible. Abram being called to a distant land, Moses called to go before the most powerful man in the world at that time, Daniel and the Lion’s den, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace, Jesus’ disciples leaving family and security to follow a man who called Himself the Messiah.

What God calls many of us to today looks vastly different from these stories from the Bible, but He is still calling his Church to share His love to those who don’t know it, love people, to stand up against injustice, to be bold in our convictions, and fight for the least of these. How that plays out looks different for each of us, but when God calls you (and me), may we remember Puddleglum and that no matter how scary something might look (“that fellow will be the death of us”), may we trust in God’s sign more than the unknown.

© 2023 Jamie Lapeyrolerie