Iowa should be a place of welcome

To the editor:

Are our legislators so afraid of other people's beliefs that they must make a show of leaving the chambers, turning their backs or holding a competing prayer in hopes that they can drown out their guest's words? How many of us have actually heard a Wiccan prayer? I never had so I checked it out on YouTube. The prayer was beautiful! I can assure you that God and all His creations were the inspiration for Deborah Maynard's lovely and heartfelt plea for our governing body and the work they were elected to do.

As I listened I was reminded of the words of one of my favorite hymns, Great is Thy Faithfulness:

'Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.”

Sounds a lot like a Wiccan prayer, doesn't it? Thank you, Liz Bennett, for reminding us that Iowa should be a place of welcome and shame on some of the members of our legislature for forgetting it.

Liz Varnum

Cedar Rapids