Man Finds Letters to God at Sea

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A U.S. man who found 300 letters to God floating in the Atlantic Ocean said on Friday he will donate them to a church instead of selling them on eBay following protests from religious people.

The letters, sent to a deceased Baptist clergyman, mysteriously wound up in a sealed plastic shopping bag near a beach in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Bill Lacovara, an insurance adjuster from Ventnor, New Jersey, said he waded out to get the bag while on a fishing trip last week.

The letters were addressed to the Rev. Grady Cooper of Jersey City, New Jersey, who died in 2004. Someone cleaning his house may have discarded the bag, which Lacovara found about 100 miles from Cooper's residence.

They include one from a teen-age girl asking God to forgive her for having an abortion, one from a prisoner who said he was innocent and wanted to be at home with his family, and one from a man who wanted God's help winning the lottery, according to media reports.

Lacovara said he could have auctioned them off on eBay for up to $15,000 and would have given the money to charity. But he has withdrawn them from the online auction service because he said the move offended some religious people. "There were a lot of religious fanatics that were very insulted," he told Reuters. "They said they were disappointed in me, and I didn't want to do something that's going to create bad vibes." Some urged him to burn the letters, throw them back in the ocean or give them to a church, Lacovara said.

Lacovara said about a dozen clergymen have offered to take the letters, and he is evaluating the requests to make sure the letters don't fall into the wrong hands.