1: A letter to God

Lesson-1

A Letter to God

By G.L. Fuentes

“Faith Is Like Wifi, It Is Invisible But It Has The Power To Connect You To What You Need.

A Letter to God Introduction

The storey "A Letter to God" by G.L Fuentes is about having unquestionable faith in something. The plot takes place in a Latin American country. After discovering his entire crop yield destroyed by a devastating hailstorm, the story's protagonist, Lencho, writes a letter to God asking for help from the almighty. Despite the fact that his wishes are partially, if not completely, granted, he is ungrateful in the end and questions the honesty and modesty of the postmasters who helped him with money (anonymously) in the name of God.

A Letter to God Summary

G.L. Fuentes' storey "A Letter to God" depicts a farmer's unwavering faith in God. It all starts with a farmer named Lencho hoping for a rainstorm to irrigate his cornfield. He is confident that his harvest will bring him huge profits, as it does every year. Rainfall did fall, much to his delight, but it quickly turned into a hailstorm, destroying his entire crop field. The damage threatened the family's survival because their entire livelihood was dependent on the year's harvest. Despite their disappointment, the family maintained a firm faith in the Almighty. Despite working day and night in the field, Lencho knew how to write and decided to write a letter to God explaining his situation and asking for help. He went to town to post his letter to "God." When the postmaster noticed the letter, it initially amused him, but it then motivated him to do something for the farmer in order to maintain his enormous faith. He contributes from his salary and collects funds from coworkers and friends who have generously contributed to a charitable cause. To his dismay, he was only able to collect 70 pesos, which he wrapped in an envelope to appear as a response from the deity. When he discovers the letter, the writer (Lencho) is not surprised, but rather irritated because the amount is less than what he expected. He writes another letter to God, this time expressing his disappointment and distrust in the post office employees who he believes have stolen the remaining funds.

A Letter to God Lesson Explanation

The house – the only one in the entire valley – sat on the crest of a low hill. From this height, one could see the river and the field of ripe corn dotted with the flowers that always promised a good harvest. The only thing the earth needed was a downpour or at least a shower. Throughout the morning Lencho – who knew his fields intimately – had done nothing else but see the sky towards the northeast.

• Crest: Top of a hill
• Dotted: Full Of
• Downpour: Heavy Rain
• Intimately: Closely

Lencho, the farmer, lived on the only house that was there on the top of a hill. The hill was low-heighted. From there, a river and a ready-to-harvest corn field were visible. The field belonged to Lencho and he had the utmost confidence that the harvest would reap great profits. The only thing that he awaited was rainfall. In this hope, he spent an entire morning gazing at the sky in the north-east direction from where a drizzle was expected to shower on his field.

“Now we’re really going to get some water, woman. The woman who was preparing supper, replied, “Yes, God willing”. The older boys were working in the field, while the smaller ones were playing near the house until the woman called to them all, “Come for dinner. It was during the meal that, just as Lencho had predicted, big drops of rain began to fall. In the north-east huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching. The air was fresh and sweet. The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body, and when he returned he exclaimed, “These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. The big drops are ten cent pieces and the little ones are fives.”

• Exclaimed- cry out suddenly in surprise, strong emotion, or pain.

While looking at the sky, the man confidently tells his wife that they will have a rain shower, to which the lady responds, "only if everything goes as they hope and expect." When Lencho's wife summons everyone for dinner, their older children were working in the field and their younger children were playing near the house. Drops of rain begin to fall during this time, proving the farmer's prediction correct. The wind was pleasant, and clouds could be seen moving in from the north-east. Lencho goes outside to enjoy the sensation of the droplets on his skin. He compares the drizzle to coins, with larger droplets worth ten cents and smaller ones worth five cents. He says this because the raindrops will ensure a good crop, which will earn them a lot of money.

With a satisfied expression he regarded the field of ripe corn with its flowers, draped in a curtain of rain. But suddenly a strong wind began to blow and along with the rain very large hailstones began to fall. These truly did resemble new silver coins. The boys, exposing themselves to the rain, ran out to collect the frozen pearls.

• Regarded- Consider Or Think Of In A Specified Way
• Draped- Adorn, Cover, Or Wrap (Someone Or Something)
• Hailstones- A Pellet Of Hail
• Resemble- Have A Similar Appearance To Or Qualities In Common With (Someone Or Something); Look Or Seem Like.
• Exposing- make (something) visible by uncovering it.; reveal

Lencho reflected on the field and the flowers covered in droplets that appeared to be wrapped in a curtain as everything went as planned. Unexpectedly, strong winds began to blow, resulting in a hailstorm. Satirically, the writer refers to these frozen rain pellets as "new silver coins." The innocent boys became playful and went out in the rain to play and collect these "frozen pearls" hailstones.

“It’s really getting bad now,” exclaimed the man. “I hope it passes quickly. It did not pass quickly. For an hour the hail rained on the house, the garden, the hillside, the cornfield, on the whole valley. The field was white as if covered with salt.

The farmer now starts worrying and hopes that the storm gets over quickly, which, to his utmost disappointment, didn’t. The hailstones covered the entire valley including the house, garden, hillside, and cornfield. It made everything look so white that it seemed as if it was covered in salt.

Not a leaf remained on the trees. The corn was totally destroyed. The flowers were gone from the plants. Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness. When the storm had passed, he stood in the middle of the field and said to his sons, “A plague of locusts would have left more than this. The hail has left nothing. This year we will have no corn.” That night was a sorrowful one. “All our work, for nothing. There’s no one who can help us”.”We’ll all go hungry this year.”

• plague- a destructively numerous inflow or multiplication of a harmful animal, infestation
• locusts- Insects which fly in big groups and destroy crops

As everything went against the plan, Lencho became stressed and disappointed. The trees' leaves had fallen, the corns had been smashed, and the flowers had also fallen from their plants. While standing in the withered fields, he expressed his dismay and sorrow to his sons by remarking that the storm's impact was worse than that of crop-destroying insects. All of their efforts had been in vain. He felt helpless because there was no corn left and feared that they would have to starve this time.

But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary house in the middle of the valley, there was a single hope: help from God. “Don’t be so upset, even though this seems like a total loss. Remember, no one dies of hunger.””That’s what they say: no one dies of hunger. “

• solitary:  Existing alone; lonely.

Even after everything had gone wrong, the family maintained hope in their hearts of hearts. Even when there was nothing left, they had faith in the Almighty. They encouraged one another and recalled a proverb that states that no one ever dies of starvation.

All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope: the help of God, whose eyes, as he had been instructed, see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience. Lencho was an ox of a man, working like an animal in the fields, but still he knew how to write. The following Sunday, at daybreak, he began to write a letter which he himself would carry to town and place in the mail. It was nothing less than a letter to God.

• conscience- an inner sense of right and wrong.
• ox of a man- hardworking
• daybreak- The time in the morning when daylight first appears

Lencho spent the entire night contemplating the only option left to him, which was to seek the assistance of God, who, he had been told, has eyes and ears everywhere. He considered writing a letter to God in which he expressed his grievances. Despite having spent so many years working on the farm, he still knew how to write. He began writing on Sunday morning and planned to mail it himself by going to town.

“God, he wrote, “if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year. I need a hundred pesos in order to sow my field again and to live until the crop comes, because the hailstorm….” He wrote ‘To God’ on the envelope, put the letter inside and, still troubled, went to town. At the post office, he placed a stamp on the letter and dropped it into the mailbox.

• Pesos- the basic monetary unit of Mexico, several other Latin American countries, and the Philippines

In his letter to God, he expressed his poverty and stated that he needed 100 pesos to regenerate the crops while also surviving until they were ready to harvest. He wrote on the envelope, "To God, The letter was then stamped at the post office and dropped in the mailbox.

One of the employees, who was a postman and also helped at the post office, went to his boss laughing heartily and showed him the letter to God. Never in his career as a postman had he known that address. The postmaster – a fat, amiable fellow – also broke out laughing, but almost immediately he turned serious and, tapping the letter on his desk, commented, “What faith! I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this letter. Starting up a correspondence with God!”

• Amiable- Friendly And Pleasant
• Correspondence- Communication by exchanging letters with someone.

Lencho's letter was discovered by a postman, who was also an employee of the post office, and was shown to the postmaster. They were both amused, but the postmaster, who was fat and friendly, took a serious tone right away. He was astounded by Lencho's faith in God and wished he had the same.

So, in order not to shake the writer’s faith in God, the postmaster came up with an idea: answer the letter. But when he opened it, it was evident that to answer it he needed something more than goodwill, ink and paper. But he stuck to his resolution: he asked for money from his employees, he himself gave part of his salary, and several friends of his were obliged to give something’for an act of charity’.

• goodwill- friendly, helpful, or cooperative feelings or attitude
• resolution- a firm decision to do or not to do something.
• obliged- grateful

With good intentions, the postmaster read the letter and considered responding in order to maintain the writer's faith. However, the writer anticipated a different response that could not be met with pen, paper, and morals. The farmer had requested 100 pesos. The postmaster, along with his colleagues and a few friends who were eager to contribute to a good cause, gathered a sum of money to assist Lencho.

It was impossible for him to gather together the hundred pesos, so he was able to send the farmer only a little more than half. He put the money in an envelope addressed to Lencho and with it a letter containing only a single word as a signature: God

Despite his best efforts, he was only able to collect less than half of the required amount. He then addressed it to Lencho, accompanied by a letter signed by God.

The following Sunday Lencho came a bit earlier than usual to ask if there was a letter for him. It was the postman himself who handed the letter to him while the postmaster, experiencing the contentment of a man who has performed a good deed, looked on from his office. Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money; such was his confidence but he became angry when he counted the money. God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested.

• contentment- Satisfaction

The following Sunday, Lencho arrived a little earlier than expected in search of a response. The postman joyfully and surprised handed him the letter that had been waiting for him, while the postmaster, satisfied, oversaw it from his office. On the contrary, the farmer became disheartened when he saw that the money was less than what he had requested. His faith was unshaken, and he believed that God could not make such a mistake.

Immediately, Lencho went up to the window to ask for paper and ink. On the public writing table, he started to write, with much wrinkling of his brow, caused by the effort he had to make to express his ideas. When he finished, he went to the window to buy a stamp which he licked and then affixed to the envelope with a blow of his fist. The moment the letter fell into the mailbox the postmaster went to open it. It said: “God: Of the money that I asked for, only seventy pesos reached me. Send me the rest, since I need it very much. But don’t send it to me through the mail because the post office employees are a bunch of crooks. Lencho.”

After being disappointed, he went in search of ink and paper to write to God again. His brows curled as a result of the concentration with which he was drafting a new request. When he was finished, he affixed it with a stamp. The postmaster took it out of the mailbox as soon as he dropped it in. Lencho complained that he had only received 70 pesos and that the remaining amount was desperately needed. He questioned the integrity and honesty of post office employees and suggested that the money not be sent via postal service because he suspected that the post office staff had stolen the missing amount.

About the Author

On July 11, 1897, Gregorio Lopez Y Fuentes was born in Lanzarote, Canary Islands. At the age of ten, he went to sea for the first time with his father as a deck boy. Fuentes worked on cargo ships sailing from the Canary Islands to Trinidad and Puerto Rico as a teenager. He also sailed to South America from the Spanish cities of Valencia and Sevilla. At the age of twenty-two, he moved permanently to Cuba. Fuentes, a lifelong cigar smoker, died in 2002 at the age of 105 from cancer.