I had gone up to my room, explaining to my husband that it would be much easier for me to exercise my faith if I could lay hold of something tangible. When Jesus anointed the eyes of the blind man, he used mud and spittle, not for himself, but for the blind man to have faith.
When Joseph Smith asked Wilford Woodruff to cross the Mississippi River and bless the malaria-stricken children, he gave him his handkerchief, as a token that acted as something tangible between the two men. Wilford went across the river and healed the sick with the aid of that token. (1839, Nauvoo, Illinois)
“As Joseph was about to cross the river, a man came to him and asked him if he would go about three miles and heal two of his small children, who were twins, about three months old, and were sick nigh unto death. He was a man of the world, he had never heard a sermon preached by a Latter-day Saint. Joseph said he could not go, but he would send a man. After hesitating a moment, he turned to me and said, “You go with this man and heal his children,” at the same time giving me a red silk handkerchief, and said, “After you lay hands upon them, wipe their faces with it, and they shall be healed; and as long as you will keep that handkerchief, it shall ever remain as a league between you and me.” I went and did as I was commanded, and the children were healed. I have possession of the handkerchief unto this day.” (History of Wilford Woodruff)
I thought, “how wonderful to have something like that red handkerchief, something that belonged to someone of faith.” I rationalized that it would be easier for me to exercise my faith with some tangible element.
Probably 20 minutes passed and I received a call from a dear friend, of many years, and many trials herself–she told me she had something for me. Twenty or so years ago someone had left a table with her, a table that was supposedly Hyrum Smith’s table (brother to Joseph Smith, who was also killed). She was not sure if it was, but the man never came back for it and now that she was moving, she wanted to know if I would like it — That and a shelf full of wonderful old religious books. The desires of my heart were answered so quickly, so amazingly too. The table was missing it’s top, but I have since put a marble one on it. It’s in my home.
It seems so simple, yet so unbelievable to a grown-up, so believable to a child.
We become so knowledgeable, educated, and dependant on scientific research when we “grow up” that we lose our simple ability to believe in the unseen hand of God. It’s not Santa Clause, it is the unseen world we left behind when we were born as helpless infants into the space we call earth. This life is a testing ground of faith and sometimes we just need something to tangible.
my hyrum table:
with my mom’s marble top in 2012:
mortal man needs mud:
malaria outbreak, Nauvoo, Illinois, 1839:
Nauvoo the Beautiful:
Hyrum Smith (older brother to Joseph Smith):
