SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER: “LETTER TO GOD”
Written by G.L. Fuentes
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gregorio Lopez Fuentes (November 17, 1895 – December 10, 1966) was a Mexican writer and journalist who was born on July 11, 1897, in Veracruz, Mexico. As a teenager, he worked on cargo ships that sailed from the Canary Islands to Trinidad and Puerto Rico.
He began writing when he was just 15 years old, during the Mexican Revolution which prevailed from 1910 to 1920. He wrote many books about the Revolution, including one about the famous revolutionary Emiliano Zapata.
Later, he became a journalist and worked for a newspaper for many years. He also wrote a series of short stories for children. He was awarded the National Prize of Arts and Science in 1935. Fuentes passed away in 1966 due to cancer.
Summary of the Chapter: “Letter to God”
Lencho was a hard working farmer. His family survived on the harvest of every year. That year, corn crops were growing in the field. The harvest like every year was dependent on natural factors, especially the rain. His corn crops were growing well with the flowers blooming out. It needed rain to make it big and to produce a good harvest. One morning, Looking at the sky looking for rain, he predicted rainfall by looking at the sky and the conditions.
Later that night, as they were sitting for family dinner, as per his prediction, it began to rain and he became happy. He even exclaimed that those were not raindrops rather new coins. Soon the wind became strong and there arose a hail storm. The rail fall became heavy and intense. For an hour, the hail rained on the house, the garden, the hillside, the cornfield on the whole valley. Lencho was not expecting this. It began to destroy everything. In the end, the trees were left with no leaves. The corn fields were destroyed by the hailstorm. He stood in between the cornfield and commented that even a plague of locusts would have left more than this. He expressed to his family that all their work had gone in vain and they might have to go hungry that year. But all those who lived there in the valley had a single final hope in God even when they felt that the world was going against them. Though he was sad, he started to look for a way to get out of this situation.
He knew that he needed 100 pesos to buy new seeds and to survive till the next harvest. He became extremely sad. He intended to write a letter to God. Though he was a farmer, he knew how to read and write. On the following Sunday, he penned a simple letter addressed to God. He posted it in the nearby post office. The postman upon seeing the letter addressed to God could not stop laughing. He had never seen such an address. When he showed it to his boss, he also broke out laughing. Soon he became serious and said that he wished he had the faith of a farmer in God.
The postmaster did not want to shake the faith of the farmer in God. He decided to answer the letter and help the farmer. He collected money from employees. They all came together to help the farmer. The postmaster himself contributed half of his salary. Still, he could not collect the required amount. He was short of 30 pesos. The following Sunday, Lencho came to the post office looking for a reply from God. The postman himself handed the letter. He opened the letter and found 70 pesos. He was not surprised to see money at all which meant his confidence in God was so great.
Lencho there and there asked for paper and ink and wrote a reply letter to God and dropped it in the mailbox. The postmaster was curious to know the content of the letter. He wrote back that the money was insufficient and needed the remaining at the earliest possible. He also requested God not to send the money through the mail because the employees at the post office were a bunch of crooks. Though Lencho’s last statement seems be negative towards the employees who helped him, focus should be on his faith in God .
Life Messages from the chapter, “Letter to God”
Firstly, Faith in God never goes in vain. If we are genuinely in need of something, God will come to our aid. Secondly, God uses us as instruments to help people around us. Thirdly, sometimes, we tend to look at the world negatively but there are kind-hearted people in the society. It is time for us to become one like them.