Dear God, It's Me, Rivky...

The other day I read a news item about a bunch of letters written to God that were found washed up on the Jersey Shore. (You can read about it here: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/02/unanswered.prayers.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories).

The letters had been sent to a New Jersey minister to be placed on an altar at his church and prayed over. The minister died two years ago and no one knows exactly how the letters, some of which go back more than twenty years, ended up in the ocean; they were in a bag with some of his other stuff, so apparently someone was cleaning out his home or office and decided to toss things in the ocean rather than a garbage can. The letters were found by an insurance adjustor who was fishing with his son.

There's something very poignant about this story. So many people's wishes and prayers all grouped together in physical form. The fact that they were tossed out to see, and then found (miraculous, in a sense). And found by an insurance adjustor, of all people! Fishing with his son, no less. It's like a Norman Rockwell painting.

But the thing that struck me most about the incident was the insuracne adjustor's reaction to it: "This is just a hint of what really happens. How many letters like this all over the world aren't being opened or answered?" he said.

I repeat, "How many letters like this aren't being opened or answered?"

Um, excuse me, but isn't that the point? We're not talking about little kids writing to Santa Claus. These are grown men and women writing in desperation to God. GOD! They're not meant to be opened or answered. Not in the form of a written response, anyway. Can you imagine?

Letter:
Dear God, I cheated on my boyfriend and got pregnant and had an abortion. He doesn't know about it, and he wants to marry me. I feel terrible. Please help me. -Cindy

Reponse:
Dear Cindy, This is God. Thanks for your letter. So good of you to share your anguish with me. You're a ho, but I love you, even if your boyfriend won't after you tell him what you did. Love, God

I, for one, would be more than a little unnnerved to get such a response.

But the insurance adjustor feels differently: "Lacovara said he is sad that most of the writers never had their letters read. But he hopes to change that soon: He is putting the collection up for sale on eBay."

EBAY???

I'm speechless.