Today we reflect upon the story of the Prodigal Son, that wasteful young man, whose adventure eventually leads him home. We consider how we all can become ‘lost’, disoriented by life’s journey, and wonder about how that ‘re-orientation’ may occur. I share with you a prayer that has nourished me this week, by Bruce Prewer : God our motherly Father, our brotherly Saviour, our sisterly Spirit-Friend, we ask that in our prayers and in the ordinary affairs of each day, we may exhibit your generous spirit to other people. We pray for the millions of homeless people whom we will never meet but whose predicament we see on the TV. Please bless those humanitarian agencies who attempt to care for them, and all who give generously to support their work. We pray for unwanted or destitute people in our own country, from Darwin to Port Arthur and Port Headland to Byron Bay. Please give both wisdom and a generous spirit to Federal and State Governments, and strengthen the welfare ministry of churches. We pray for any among us here today, who with dignity and courage are secretly enduring misfortunes or ongoing worries. Please give your peace and healing to them, and keep us sensitive, that we may recognise a cry for help if it comes our way and respond generously. We pray for neighbours or workmates, and for those familiar but nameless faces we notice each day in train or bus, elevator, bank or supermarket. Please bless each according to their need, and without any prying or self importance on our part, make us ready to help in the hour of need. We pray for all the bewildered, lost souls; for young folk hitting out, puzzled adults who find that neither career nor family satisfy their deepest need, sour elderly folk who are jealous of the faith and happiness of others. Please gather the lost into your loving arms, and help each of us to treat awkward, prickly people with the generous respect that you have for each. Loving Saviour, seeking the lost and the unlovely, we worship you. Caring Spirit, enabling the weak and the meek, we worship you. Holy God, generous beyond all calculation, we worship you. Amen!