A Letter to God ( by Gregorio López y Fuentes)

Una Carta a Dios

A Letter to God(Por Gregorio López y Fuentes)

The house was the only in the valley. It was one of those truncated hills like rudimentary pyramids left when the tribes went away. From there, you could see the country, the fields, the rivers, and the corn already on the verge of coming out. Between the plants of the corn, the beans were flowering, promising a good harvest.The only thing the earth needed was rain, at least a heavy shower, which would form pools between the furrows. To doubt that it was going to rain was the same as doubting to believe in the experience of those who by tradition planted the seed on a certain day of the year.During the morning, Lencho had done nothing more than look at the northeast sky.

--Now the rain will come, old woman, --he said.

The old woman who prepared the food responded--God willing

--The older boys pulled weeds from the field while the little smallest ran near the house until the woman shouted to them--Come an eat--

During the meal, heavy drops of rain began to fall. From the northeast he saw big mountains of clouds. The air smelled like a new earthen jug.Make the pretence, boys, exclaimed the man, while he got wet, with the pretext to recover some things

--they are not drops of water that are falling, they are new money; the large drops of coins; tens and small drops, fives.And he watched, satisfied; the corn at a point of coming out and between the rows were leafy rows of beans adorned with flowers, all covered by a transparent curtain of rain.But then a strong wind began to blow and with the drops of water there began to fall big drops like acorns. They appeared to be new silver coins. The young men exposing themselves to the rain gathered the huge pearls of ice.

--This is very bad, he exclaimed, mortified. I hope it will pass soon.It did not pass soon. During the hour, the hail stoned the house, the orchard, the mountain, the corn and the entire valley. The country was so white it appeared to be a salt marsh. The trees were without leaves. The corn torn to pieces. The beans without a flower.Lencho and the woman of the house were filled with worry. The storm passed with nothing left. They said to their sons:--The hail has left us nothing; not one small plant that will give us one ear of corn; not one small plant of beans to give us one pod.The night passed with lamenting--All of our work is lost--And no one can ask for help. This year we are going to be hungry.

But in their spiritual depth of all of those who lived in the only house in the middle of the valley, had one hope: help from God. They did not worry so much even though it was very bad. --Remember that no one will be hungry-- they said.When dawn came Lencho thought a lot about what he had seen in the church in town on Sundays. He had seen a triangle and within the triangle an eye, an eye that seemed very big and an eye that according to what had been explained to him, watches everything until it is at the heart of the consciences.

Lencho was a coarse man and he himself always said the countryside was brutal, but nevertheless, he knew how to write. Already it was daylight and taking advantage of the fact that it was Sunday, he himself would take his letter to town and put it in the post office.It was nothing less than a letter to God.--God -- he wrote --if you do not help us, all my family and I will be hungry during this year. I need 100 dollars to obtain seed and live while the harvest comes in, because of the hail. -- He wrote on the letter -- To God-- He put a stamp on the letter and dropped in the mailbox.

An employee of the post office went laughing to his boss. He showed the letter directed to God. Never in his existence in the post office had he known this address. The boss – fat and kind- also smiled but very soon he frowned and threw it and hit the table with the letter and commented…The faith! I wish I had the faith of the one who wrote the letter. To believe like he believed. Expect with confidence what he expects! To write it to God!And for not to disappoint that treasure of faith, discovered that though he had the letter, he was not able to deliver it, the postal boss had an idea; answer the letter. 

But once opened, saw the answer needed something more than good will; it not only needed ink and paper. Not for him only to give but he demanded that his employee make a contribution; he put in a part of his pay and various people they gave money “for good works.”It was impossible for him to gather l00 pesos solicited for Lencho and he also went to the country people for less than he wanted; he had something more than half. He put two bills in an envelope and directed it to Lencho and with them, one paper that had no more than one word. “God.”The following Sunday Lencho came, earlier than anyone, to ask if they had a letter for him. It was the same postman who he handed the letter to, that was given to the boss, who was happy that he had made a good deed for him and that he had sent the letter. 

Lencho did not show the any surprise to the bills, so much was he sure, but he made the (gesture) point of counting the money. God was not able to have made a mistake! Nor deny what he had asked!Immediately, Lencho went to the window to ask for paper and ink. On the public table, he began to write with great effort to give a legible form to his ideas. At the end, he went for a stamp that he could wet with his tongue and put on the letter. As the letter fell into the letterbox, the boss of the post office went to search for it. It said, “God, with the money that to you I asked, you only sent to my hands 70 pesos. Send me the rest that I lack, but not by mail because the employees are big robbers.”Lencho.

Obtenido de http://www.efc.dcccd.edu/ER/LAC/HSpTrUnaCartaaDios.html

Another book by Geregorio lopez y Fuentes 

El indio