If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask Him, and He will gladly tell you, for He is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask.

– James 1:5, The Living Bible

I am a member of the Sirius/XM satellite radio nation, and have been for some time now.

I particularly like how I can hurry out the door and listen to the same international news feeds I was watching on my TV while getting ready at home.

I also like the fact that with one stoke of a button I am catapulted back to the 70s, where the sounds of James Taylor, The Rolling Stones, or the Bee Gees take me to a time when I was a teenager and music filled my world.

We have stereo wars in my car, on occasion, when my husband takes his place behind the wheel. He likes the 70s station but can’t get enough of channel 14, featuring bluegrass.

Up goes the volume and his fingers briskly strum the wheel, for he is an amateur banjo player when he’s not helping Navy pilots avoid hitting birds. A few measures into the song and he’s on stage instead of driving north on State Highway 20.

He’s particularly fond of the fellow who shares banjo strumming techniques on Sunday mornings as we make our way to church.

I can usually manage two songs or 10 minutes of instruction. Then I’m pleading, along with anyone else riding along with us, “Channel 7! Channel 20! We need a break!”

I’m also a fan of Netflix and when I’d doing mindless work around the house I’m watching “The West Wing.” I’ve got to admit something:

I can’t get enough of the Emmy award winning series that chronicles the triumphs and travails of the Josiah Bartlet administration.

I’m presently viewing the fourth season and President Bartlet has just won his second presidential election. Stealing away from his ninth inaugural ball, he says to his White House senior staff in a nearby hallway, “Never doubt that a small group can change the world.”

This week I’ve thought about my world and the book of James. To Bartlet’s comment I’ll add, “If you want to make your world a better place, ask God for some marching orders.”

In fact, why not harness the power of a praying people and ask God the tough questions: What ARE we to do? How are we to pray? What explanations are we to give our children about life events? How are we to work within our churches and local organizations? What are we to be blogging, tweeting, posting?

To ask the questions we must, however, step away from XM radio and Netflix. Instead, let’s walk the beach.

Open our sacred books. Pray with a friend. Meet over coffee. Dialog on Facebook. Take sail. Attend a public meeting.

Read our grandchildren bedtime stories and pray over their tiny, nodding heads that we love so tenderly.

Let’s listen and then let’s act.