A Letter to God

G.L. Fuentes
About the author
Gregorio Lopez Y Fuentes was born on July
11, 1897 at Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.
He first went to sea as a deck boy with his
father at the age of ten. As a teenager, Fuentes
worked on cargo ships that went out of the
Canary Island to Trinidad and Puerto Rico. He
also sailed to the Spanish parts of Valencia
and Sevilla to South America. He migrated
permanently to Cuba at the age of twenty two,
Fuentes, a lifelong cigar smoker, died from
cancer in 2002 at the age of 105 years.
Canary islands on the map
 Theme of the story
This is the story of a hard working farmer
Lencho. He is expecting a good harvest this year
if it rains. The rain does come bringing a brief
happiness. However, a hailstorm follows the rain
destroying all his crops. Being deeply hurt, he
looks toward God. Having unshaken faith in God,
he writes a letter to Him demanding one hundred
pesos. This amount is sufficient enough to sow his
crop again.
He posts the letter. The postman has a hearty
laugh when he reads it and shows it to the
postmaster. The postmaster being a generous
man, decides to help Lencho. He gives a part
of his salary and collects money from the
employees. He sends seventy pesos to
Lencho. Lencho’s happiness was momentary
when he counts the money. God can’t deceive
him, it is the work of the post office
employees. He writes another letter to God
asking Him not to send the remaining 30
pesos by mail as post office employees are a
‘bunch of crooks’.
The lesson shows three things. It shows
Lencho’s firm faith in God. His faith is
rewarded though the helpers are human
beings. Secondly, it shows the utter
innocence of the farmer, Lencho.
Thirdly, the lesson gives a message that
sometimes even your generosity is not
recognised. You may not get any credit for
your generosity and kindness. But on the
other hand, you may be misunderstood as
a ‘bunch of crooks’.
 Lencho’s Hope of Good Harvest
Lencho was a farmer who lived on the
crest of a low hill with his family. His
house was the only one in the entire
valley. His field needed a good harvest.
He was looking towards the sky hoping
for a rain. During the meal, the rain began
to fall. He went out to feel the rain on his
body.
Raindrops like coins
Lencho was satisfied. The drops of rain
were like the coins. The big drops were ten
cent pieces and the little ones were worth
five each. Suddenly, a strong wind began to
blow. Lencho was worried.
Unexpected hailstones
Along with the rain came very large
hailstones. They truly did resemble silver
coins. The house, fields and the hill side
were covered with the white hails. Not a
leaf remained on the trees. The corn was
totally destroyed. So were the flowers.
Lencho was sorrowful. They would have
no corn that year.
 Single hope – Help from God
Lencho thought that there was
only one hope. It was the help
from God. The following
Sunday, he wrote a letter to
God. He wrote that if he did not
help, his whole family would
die. He needed a hundred pesos
in order to sow his field again
and to live until the new crop
came. He wrote ‘To God’ on the
envelope, placed a stamp on it
and dropped it into the mailbox.
 Strange address

One of the postmen who read the address

laughed heartily and took it to the postmaster.
The postmaster was quite a friendly and
pleasant man. He too broke out laughing. But
soon he became serious. He realized that the
sender of the letter had a great faith in God. He
didn’t want to shake the writer’s faith in God.
He decided to answer the letter.
 Help from the postmaster.
The generous postmaster collected money from his
employees. He himself gave a part of his salary. He
put seventy pesos, all the money he could collect, in
an envelope and sent it to Lencho by mail.
Lencho’s anger against Post Office
Employees
Lencho had a firm and unshaken faith in God. He did
expect help from God. When he received the money,
he was not surprised. But his happiness was just for
some moments. When he counted the money, he
became very angry. He believed that God could
never deceive him. Immediately, he wrote a second
letter to God and posted it. The postmaster opened
the letter eagerly. Lencho wrote that he received
seventy pesos that had been sent by God. He
requested God to send him the rest of the money. He
asked God not to send the money through the mail.
The post office employees were ‘a bunch of crooks’.
Justification of the Title
 The title, ‘A Letter to God’ arouses the reader’s
interest as the idea of someone sending a letter
to God is quite intriguing. The interest is
sustained and even heightened on reading the
story of how Lencho, the main character appeals
to God for monetary help through a letter. It is
not so much about the actual letter but the
unquestioning faith of a naïve man in the benign
power of the almighty. Hence, the title is suitable
as it is the letter that reveals the character of
Lencho and also makes the story unfold.
Character Sketch
Lencho:
Lencho was a man of limited means and earned
his living by farming his fields. He had an
unshaken faith in God. He believed that God
always helps the people with a clear conscience.
Therefore, when he lost all hopes and he and his
family were on the verge of starvation, he looked
towards God for help. His deep faith in God even
impressed the postmaster who decided to help
him. He was a little educated to write a letter. He
showed his innocence by trying to have a
correspondence with God directly.
 Character Sketch
Postmaster:
The postmaster had all, that is, good in human thinking
and behaviour. He had thorough understanding of a
sharp, sympathetic and sensitive mind. He knew how
the mind of a God-fearing rustic like Lencho works. He
didn’t want to break the deep faith of Lencho in God.
First, he laughed at the man who wanted to have a direct
correspondence with God. After reading the letter, he
was deeply moved and impressed by Lencho’s faith in
God. He knew that merely goodwill was not sufficient.
The farmer needed financial help. So he collected a sum
of 70 pesos from his employees. He also contributed a
part of his salary and sent the money to Lencho.