April 1 2007 - Carl B. Minton, Jr.,  a sixth generation Houstonian and retired Real Estate Broker, enjoyed the material things of life and had many experiences ...The most profound was having Richard Sigler enter his life at the tender age of 17. This unknowingly  prepared him for a total commitment to Carmel Temple much later. Now Active at Carmel full-time since 1995, Carl's talk this date will be to honor Richard Sigler's contribution to Humanity along with Charlotte as co-founder of Carmel Temple, 37 years ago.

Carl's talk on 03-29-1998:  Carl Boedeker Minton, Jr., the son of Carmel Temple Co-founder, Charlotte Sigler, a sixth generation Houstonian and retired Real Estate Broker, enjoyed the material things of life and had many experiences ... all of which unknowingly were preparing him for a total commitment to Carmel Temple. Carl attended three institutions of higher learning in his younger years—Alvin Junior College, University of Houston, and Rice University—pursuing a degree in psychology, which remains unfinished. His employment history includes a broad spectrum of activities which began with a Houston Chronicle paper route, usher at Santa Rosa Theatre in southeast Houston as a teenager, and expanding (much to their chagrin) to the accounting department at Continental Can Company, as a timekeeper in the plant and a reluctant member of the Steel Workers Union. He served as a volunteer Junior Achievement advisor, enjoying his first experience in public service. Later, he applied for and was accepted as a Big Brother and was assigned not to one fatherless boy, but to a fatherless family with a husband-less mother, two boys, and one 8-year-old girl, all of which provided a four-year learning curve for Carl. Taking Crisis Hotline training, he later worked as a volunteer for The Houston Crisis Hotline, assisting many individuals with their problems. He was elected President of the Houston Landscape Nursery Association in 1970 and became the youngest officer in the history of the association.

After purchasing an Earl Nightingale distributorship, he founded S.M.I.L.E., Inc., a management consulting/motivation company. Later, he acquired the Houston area broadcasting rights to Earl's daily radio program, “Our Changing World,” sponsored by South Main Bank for several years. During this same period, he was also a uniformed Harris County Deputy Sheriff reserve, unpaid but with the same patrol duties as the paid officers. Married to the former Mary Frances Solari, a faithful employee of Delta Airlines, he had the opportunity to travel all over the world. Traveling with Fran, he was exposed to special spiritual locations worldwide. He then realized there was one under his nose in South Houston, Texas. Carl, studying under Dr. Jose Silva, was one of the first Silva Mind Control instructors in Houston. Later he founded and operated CMA Properties Residential for five years, specializing in the Spring Shadows area of Spring Branch. Then he bought and operated Century 21 Houston Plus, a northwest Houston real estate office, for 10 years. Acquiring stock in Westside Bank of Houston, he learned first-hand how business can become extremely complicated. When Houston went bust in the 1980’s, so did the real estate office, Westside Bank, and his twenty-year marriage to Fran, along with his better judgment.

Not heeding the advice of that reliable “inner voice” and his best friend, Felix Carvajal, he made some very bad business decisions. He was President and co-owner of Northwest Travel, a Uniglobe travel agency, and later opened CMA Products Group, a national distributorship of fine herbal products. Then he attended W. Clement Stone’s Combined Insurance Company of America training school and was licensed as an Insurance agent. He earned one of the top producer categories in his first six months of selling health insurance. But “The Universe” has methods to redirect a person’s priorities. And that happened….which changed Carl’s life.

Now active at Carmel on a full-time basis since 1995, he listens and acts on his “Inner Guidance,” by “Going Within,” “for therein lie the answers.” Carl still misses his Rolex, but he says it has no place in his life’s commitment to Carmel Temple. His talk today will explain how all these pieces came together, for divine re-direction.