Handkerchiefs - Acts 19:11-12

In Ephesus, Paul is working as both a tentmaker and a preacher of the gospel. One thing that I was reminded of during today’s reading is that he was more than just a teacher, he was also a chosen apostles of Jesus Christ. I imagined that he was just another missionary like we have today, but he was more than that, he was given power, authority, and a special witness of Jesus Christ. With that power and authority “God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.”

This was interesting to me because it seems like this would create some type of object worship, which we are commanded not to partake in, but then what is this about sending something that has “powers” to heal? The IM explained by quoting Elder Bruce R. McConkie as teaching, “Healings come by the power of faith; there is no healing virtue or power in any item of clothing or other object, whether owned by Paul of Jesus or anyone.” This idea that an object holds some sort of special significance because of its use by someone important is the whole reason behind “sacred relics” or “the holy grail” and things of that nature. I think that humans are naturally sentimental and that those feelings can be warped into obsession with objects that we feel are important in some way.
Elder McConkie continues, “But rites and objects may be used to help increase faith.” This didn’t make sense to me because how would an object increase faith? But then looking at the word “rites” I thought about ordinances and how Jesus doesn’t have some eternal accounting system in the sky tracking our true commitment to him and the promises that we make. We take part in ordinances because we, as humans, need that action to signify not only to God but also to ourselves that we understand the promises that we are making and that we are accepting them of our own free will. I don’t know what it is about the human psyche that allows us to detach ourselves from certain behaviors or thoughts through some sort of conscious effort, and then reattach our mindset into a completely different path after an event, but that really seems to be what is in play here.
The IM continues, “The people in Ephesus had sufficient faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that they were healed when Paul’s handkerchiefs or aprons were brought to them. In our day, the ordinance of anointing the sick with consecrated oil helps to increase the faith of those involved and helps them call upon God’s power and mercy. Latter-day Saint history contains a similar experience from the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith. A miraculous healing occurred on July 22, 1839, after the Prophet had healed many individuals near the small town of Montrose, Iowa, and was waiting for a boat to take him home.”
A quote by President Wilford Woodruff recounts that a “man of the world, knowing of the miracles which had been performed” asked Joseph Smith to come to his house 2 miles away to heal his 5 month old twin babies who were close to death. Joseph Smith said that he couldn’t go “but after pausing some time, he said he would send some one to heal them; and he turned to me and said: ‘You go with the man and heal his children.’ He took a red silk handkerchief out of this pocket and gave it to me, and told me to wipe their faces with the handkerchief when I administered to them, and they should be healed.” He went home with the man “and did as the Prophet commanded me, and the children were healed.”
This is very similar to what Paul did in Ephesus with the handkerchief and apron. I guess the difference between sending a personal handkerchief and like, searching out the Holy Grail, is the intention that you do it with. Clearly Joseph Smith’s handkerchief didn’t have special mystical powers any more than a magician’s wand dispenses magic. But like the wand is a tool to help demonstrate, clarify, and focus on an event or instance, so too can an object help not only those who are receiving the blessing but those who are doing the blessing focus, have clarity, and magnify what they are doing. It’s like all those movies, like Dumbo, who needs to hold a feather in his trunk to fly, so much time and attention is spent on the object or “feather” but ultimately, the feather never had anything to do with it, and “you had the power within you the whole time.” I wonder if it’s similar to that.