A Letter to God
The Harvest & The Storm
Lencho, a hardworking and dedicated farmer, lives in a solitary house perched on the crest of a low hill. Overlooking the valley, his ripe cornfield promises an excellent harvest, needing only a good downpour of rain. When the skies finally open up, Lencho is ecstatic, joyfully comparing the large raindrops to ten-cent pieces and the smaller ones to fives. Tragically, this joy is short-lived. A fierce wind suddenly sweeps through the valley, bringing a devastating hailstorm that lasts for an entire hour. The once-promising green fields are left completely white—as if covered with salt—and the crop is entirely destroyed.
The Letter & The Irony
Facing the grim prospect of his family going hungry, Lencho turns to his only remaining hope: an absolute, unwavering faith in God. He writes a letter addressed directly to "God," plainly explaining his situation and requesting exactly one hundred pesos to re-sow his field. At the post office, the amiable postmaster reads the unusually addressed envelope. Deeply moved by the purity of the farmer’s faith, he takes it upon himself to answer the letter. He gathers money from his employees and donates a portion of his own salary, managing to collect seventy pesos. He places the money in an envelope addressed to Lencho, signing it with a single word: "God."
However, when Lencho receives the money, he exhibits no surprise—only intense anger upon counting the cash. Believing that God could not possibly make a mathematical error, Lencho writes a second letter demanding the remaining thirty pesos. In a stroke of deep situational irony, he asks God not to send the rest of the money through the mail, fully convinced the helpful post office employees are nothing but "a bunch of crooks."
Key Figures
Lencho
Described as an "ox of a man," he works the fields with physical intensity but possesses the intellect to read and write. His defining trait is his profound, literal innocence and unquestioning belief that God will actively and directly intervene in his life.
The Postmaster
A kind-hearted and generous leader. He serves as the story's representation of human empathy and anonymous charity, sacrificing his own financial resources simply to preserve the spiritual comfort of a stranger.
Themes to Remember
Unwavering Faith
Lencho's absolute belief gives him immense psychological resilience in the face of ruin, yet it is so literal that it blinds him to the reality of the human compassion that actually saved him.
Situational Irony
The post office workers, who acted as agents of grace and charity, are ultimately branded as thieves by the very man they impoverished themselves to help.
Nature's Duality
The story beautifully uses metaphors to contrast the rain (viewed as silver coins of wealth) with the hail (frozen pearls of destruction), showing nature as both provider and destroyer.
