Letters to God End Up in Ocean, Unread

Beyond Belief · Nov 3, 2006

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- Some of the letters are comical (a man asking God to let him win the lottery, twice), others are heartbreaking (a distraught teen asking forgiveness for an abortion, an unwed mother pleading with God to make the baby's father marry her). The letters - about 300 in all, sent to a New Jersey minister - ended up dumped in the ocean, most of them unopened.

The minister died two years ago at 79. How the letters, some dating to 1973, wound up bobbing in the surf is a mystery.

"There are hundreds of lives here, a lot of struggle, washed up on the beach," said Bill Lacovara, a Ventnor insurance adjuster who was fishing last month with his son when he spotted a flowered plastic shopping bag and waded out to retrieve 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?"

Many of the letters were addressed to the Rev. Grady Cooper, though many more simply said "Altar." According to the text of several of them, they were intended to be placed on a church's altar and prayed over by the minister, the congregation or both.

Some were neatly written in script on white-lined paper, others in a feverish scrawl on tattered scraps of parchment or note cards. Many were crinkled from being in the water and then dried out after Lacovara fished them out of the sea. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UNANSWERED_PRAYERS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

Boyz_Mum · Nov 3, 2006

At the end of the article, it says that the finder of the letters may put them for sale on EBay? I hope he has them blessed by a religious figure beforehand. Maybe that will be the blessing that those who wrote were looking for?

It's an odd story!

Jeana (DP) · Nov 3, 2006

Just because they're in the ocean doesn't mean that God didn't read them.

:blowkiss: :blowkiss:

lostfaith · Nov 3, 2006

I just read this, and was gonna post it here, but as usual, you all are on top of it!

When I read that he was gonna sell them on e-bay, I thought that was horrible, but maybe like someone else posted, it could be the miracle some are looking for.

christine2448 · Nov 3, 2006

lostfaith said:
I just read this, and was gonna post it here, but as usual, you all are on top of it!

When I read that he was gonna sell them on e-bay, I thought that was horrible, but maybe like someone else posted, it could be the miracle some are looking for.

I just spoke to Mr. Lacovara's secretary. I was upset by the idea of them being auctioned and was going to ask him to let me purchase so I could bring them home, place them in a beautiful box, and pray over them everyday for the rest of my life.

His secretary said he will NOT be selling them and will be giving them to a pastor he knows....

Beyond Belief · Nov 3, 2006

God heard these prayers/requests when the author was writting them. They should have left them in the sea since they are God's property.

christine2448 · Nov 3, 2006

Beyond Belief said:
God heard these prayers/requests when the author was writting them. They should have left them in the sea since they are God's property.

I agree, I just didn't want them to be sold on Ebay and thought if it was going to happen I could try to do something better than that.

ember · Nov 3, 2006

Geesh...I don't understand why people are writing letters to God (unless it's children). Do they really think they know the address?

And ending up in the sea is just awful! We need to keep our oceans litter free...who put them there I wonder? That makes me angry :banghead: . Littering is not cool!

Just say your prayers peope! If it's meant to be, they'll be answered!

ljwf22 · Nov 3, 2006

christine2448 said:
I just spoke to Mr. Lacovara's secretary. I was upset by the idea of them being auctioned and was going to ask him to let me purchase so I could bring them home, place them in a beautiful box, and pray over them everyday for the rest of my life.

His secretary said he will NOT be selling them and will be giving them to a pastor he knows....

Good for you! :blowkiss: :clap:

CyberLaw · Nov 3, 2006

Please forgive my ignorance, but what was this minister going to do with these letters, if they were not discovered in the Ocean.

I thought people go to "confession" or say prayers to "seek" forgiveness, not write letters. So I am a tad confused.

christine2448 · Nov 3, 2006

CyberLaw said:
Please forgive my ignorance, but what was this minister going to do with these letters, if they were not discovered in the Ocean.

I thought people go to "confession" or say prayers to "seek" forgiveness, not write letters. So I am a tad confused.

Some TV ministries I have seen tell their viewers to mail in their prayer requests and promise that they and their staff will pray for them. Sad, all they have to do is talk to God themselves.

Boyz_Mum · Nov 3, 2006

christine2448 said:
I just spoke to Mr. Lacovara's secretary. I was upset by the idea of them being auctioned and was going to ask him to let me purchase so I could bring them home, place them in a beautiful box, and pray over them everyday for the rest of my life.

His secretary said he will NOT be selling them and will be giving them to a pastor he knows....

You are so awesome! Thank you for making a connection with Mr. L's secretary... I am sure some of the people who wrote these letters will be so pleased to have their inner feelings in the hands of a pastor rather than up for auction on EBay.

This makes for a sweet ending!

CyberLaw · Nov 4, 2006

I am very glad that "the right" thing is being done and a person "trust" is not betrayed. I cannot imagine how a person would feel having their "private thoughts" being bought by total strangers.

Thank you for the explanation on the "letters" Christine 2448

Another question: Does a "TV" ministry "ask", ahem for a "donation" when these letters are "requested" or "make a person" feel that the ministry has done them a "service" and then ahem, seek a "future" donation.

Just kind of wondering how this works.......talk about a "huge" betrayal of trust if the "ministry" just tosses out the letters.......

angelwngs · Nov 4, 2006

The topic of this thread/article is correct only in human terms. It should have said "Unread" by humans. Man does not answer letters to God. He doesn't need help from humans. Ironically, the writer of this article got it twisted around. Humans are the ones who need God's help. The letters have already been read and answered.

Indeed, God heard each writer's words as soon as they became thoughts put into words to Him.

CyberLaw · Nov 5, 2006

So why are these "ministries" telling or asking people to send in letters, if the premises is "that God is already" aware of the contents of the letters.

The letters at that point seem moot. What is the purpose........why would a "legitimate" ministry "not know" that as people write letters, pray, that God is everywhere, and hears them.

To me it seems like a type of manipulation, especially if the person "feels" indebted to the "ministry" and sends in money, in consideration for "having" preference in regards to the letters.

The letters are unread, so the point of this again would be........money?

reb · Nov 5, 2006

all that really matters here, is that the people probably felt much better after writing these letters.

ljwf22 · Nov 6, 2006

I would think that the minister and congregants would pray over the unopened letters, but then they should be burned or shredded but not kept or thrown in the ocean. I just hope the man and his son who found them do not sell them.

CyberLaw · Nov 6, 2006

But the people were mislead with false "hope" that their letters would receive special attention and just written for a moot point.

Especially when the letters were unopened, it was just an exercise in "making a person" feel better, by hoping that "the Minister" would be in "touch" with God and it will make a difference.

Isn't this a form of deceit, false hope, etc, because the person can receive the same "feeling" of goodness by praying to God.....knowing that God forgives all.

deanws · Nov 6, 2006

Jeana (DP) said:
Just because they're in the ocean doesn't mean that God didn't read them. :blowkiss: :blowkiss:

I agree Jeana!

Maral · Nov 6, 2006

christine2448 said:
Some TV ministries I have seen tell their viewers to mail in their prayer requests and promise that they and their staff will pray for them. Sad, all they have to do is talk to God themselves.

I've never watched any TV ministries, but I would imagine that those sending prayer requests in do talk to God themselves.

How is sending in prayer requests any different than the prayer request threads we have here at Websleuths? It never hurts to have more people praying for something.

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