Skip to content
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Center Staff
  • Board of Trustees
  • Services
    • Sunday Services & Meditation
    • Wednesday’s Wisdom
    • Congregational Songs
    • Archived videos on our Youtube Channel
  • Gallery
  • Media
  • Contact Us
Top Menu

Center for Spiritual Living
Center for Spiritual Living
No matter where you are on your spiritual journey, know that you are welcome here.
  • Programs
    • Animal Kinship Ministry
    • Circle of Love
    • Coming Home – Awakening To Spirit
    • Community Outreach Programs
    • Jewel Tones Choir
    • Men’s Group
    • New Thought Bookstore
    • Shifting Sands
    • Women’s Circle
    • Youth and Family
  • Science of Mind Classes
    • Course Descriptions
    • Current & Upcoming Classes
  • Events & Calendar
  • Prayer Ministry
    • Affirmative Prayer: Career and Creativity
    • Affirmative Prayer: Health
    • Affirmative Prayer: Love and Relationships
    • Affirmative Prayer: Spirituality and Consciousness
    • Affirmative Prayer: Wealth
  • Ministers
  • Give
  • Volunteer
  • Blog
  • Programs
    • Animal Kinship Ministry
    • Circle of Love
    • Coming Home – Awakening To Spirit
    • Community Outreach Programs
    • Jewel Tones Choir
    • Men’s Group
    • New Thought Bookstore
    • Shifting Sands
    • Women’s Circle
    • Youth and Family
  • Science of Mind Classes
    • Course Descriptions
    • Current & Upcoming Classes
  • Events & Calendar
  • Prayer Ministry
    • Affirmative Prayer: Career and Creativity
    • Affirmative Prayer: Health
    • Affirmative Prayer: Love and Relationships
    • Affirmative Prayer: Spirituality and Consciousness
    • Affirmative Prayer: Wealth
  • Ministers
  • Give
  • Volunteer
  • Blog

Do You Know Where You Are Going?

I love finding inspiration in unlikely places! The children’s classic, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has a great deal. Much of the inspiration emerges through humorous dialogue. One of those places is in Alice’s first conversation with the Cheshire Cat.

Alice begins by asking the Cheshire cat which way she ought to go from where she was.

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

“–so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.

“Oh. you are sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk far enough.”

Yes, we will get somewhere, but is it a place we want to go? The Cat goes on to tell Alice that everyone is mad here. He includes Alice as well as himself. She takes offense. How could he know that she is mad when he has just met her? His answer is that everyone is mad here.

That reminds me of an ancient teaching story in which a traveler stopped at the gate of a new town and asked what kind of people lived there. The gate-keeper said, “Tell me, what kind of people were in the town you came from?”

The traveler said, that they were the kindest, most generous, helpful people anywhere. He was going to miss them.” The gate-keeper said, “You will likely find the same kind of people here.” The traveler decided to stay.  A few hours later another traveler stopped at the same gate and inquired about what kind of people were in the town. The gate-keeper asked him the same question: “What kind of people were there in the town you are coming from?” The traveler replied, “Oh, they were the worst: Liars, cheats, thieves, deceptive and unfriendly gossips.” The gate-keeper said, “You are likely to meet the same kind of people here.” And the traveler decided to keep going to the next town.

We are always meeting our own consciousness.

In the book, Living the Science of Mind, Ernest Holmes wrote: “First, let us begin with the thought that we are all united with an Invisible Force which is creative and we are already one with a Universal Mind in Action.

Next, let us consider that we are all centers in the Mind, and the sum total of all our thoughts is either silently attracting Good or repelling It from us.

And third, let us know that we can change our thinking and in so doing, cause the Law of Good to act affirmatively for us instead of negatively.

Indeed, it is one of our first principles, to begin with the end in mind. In order to work intelligently with divine mind, we need to understand the nature of the Divinity. God can only do for us what It can do through us.”

So we are at choice about whether to accept the Cat’s opinion, that we are all mad, or we can choose to see the good and only the good.

Stephen Covey in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, writes: that the second habit is to “begin with the end in mind.” This is equivalent to knowing where you want to go. You can’t get to New York by car if you are driving south from Los Angeles. Knowing where you are is just as necessary as knowing where you want to go.

This is true about the fulfillment of our desires as well as it is for moving through our world. Where do you want to go?

 

 

Share this post

Author: Heather Clark

Recent Blog Posts
  • No Mud, No Lotus: A Journey into Forgiveness

    Forgiveness is a powerful tool for transformation. No Mud, No Lotus, a Journey into Forgiveness is a program that promises to guide its students through a loving, gentle, and compassionate process toward freedom. The course is six weeks long and it incorporates more practices, prayer partnerships and now we dive deep into our cultural pain…

    June 30, 2022
  • A Global Vision: A World That Works for All

    Global Vision: A World That Works for All Where all life is honored as expressions of the Divine Where people live according to spiritual truth Where humanity awakens to spiritual magnificence Where humanity rediscovers personal creative power Where we live as one global family Where kinship with all life prospers Where unity and connection is…

    May 9, 2022
  • Truth in Love Connection Workshop

    Presented by Rev. Dr. Melissa Phillippe and Rev. Z. Egloff. The work of Dr. John Sarno is revolutionary. Melissa and Z have experienced amazing mind-body healings — including relief from back, neck, and knee pain, chronic fatigue syndrome, migraines, GERD, and more! Melissa and Z have created a process based on Dr. Sarno’s work, called…

    March 31, 2022
  • An Action Plan for Peace

    An Action Plan for Peace – daily prayer through the end of March based on the teachings of Ernest Holmes as he outlines the possibility to create a spiritual chain reaction for peace. Now Rev. Beth invites you to join. “We are now meeting for 10 minutes, daily, to focus together on inner peace and…

    March 14, 2022
  • Call to Prayer: A Note from Dr. Edward Viljoen

    We are struck and saddened by the realization that during the celebration of the Season for Nonviolence, our world is experiencing armed conflict in more than 70 locations on the planet.  We are saddened, too, by what appears to be an overarching concern about the impact of war on the economy. We are concerned about…

    March 4, 2022
  • Basic Skills for Living an Authentic Life

    Fundamental Principles of Our Philosophy Change your thinking, change your heart, change your life! Are you ready to discover your emerging direction and purpose? Are you ready to live your abundant and authentic life? Join us for ten weeks of self-discovery and revelation. In this all-new Foundations class, learn the nine spiritual principles and practices…

    January 7, 2022
Categories
  • Blog
  • Classes
  • Events
Tags
Affirmation Affirmative Prayer Audio blog center for spiritual living capistrano valley creativity Darin McClure Darin McClure Dr. Heather Clark Dr. Heather Clark Ernest Holmes Forgiveness gratitude gratitude Jason Silva Joyous Living Journal Joyous Living Journal Juli Isola Juli Isola Lisa McClure Lisa McClure Love Love Meditation meditation Melissa Echelberger Music Oneness Parenting Quotes Rev. Dr. Heather Clark Rev. Dr. Heather Clark Rev. Karyn Allen Rev. Pattie Mercado Rev. Pattie Mercado Science of Mind September Warren September Warren spiritual growth Sunday Service Sunday Service Vidette Vanderweide Wednesday Wisdom Wednesday Wisdom Youtube
Contact Us
Center for Spiritual Living Capistrano Valley
1201 Puerta Del Sol
Suite 100 San Clemente, California 92673

Phone: 949-240-6463

Other contact options

Volunteers: Please check your assignment schedules here.

Latest Tweets
  • https://t.co/0UC1qEZ5d38 hours ago
  • TBT - October 1, 2014... a Wednesday. I have no idea what event this was. But I see so many amazing, beloved faces.… https://t.co/qKvuc1oNS14 days ago
  • https://t.co/RIUhNph2ax15 days ago
  • https://t.co/3uzYIvxbMt15 days ago
  • BONUS TBT - June 2019 choir show, Spring Sing Hit Parade! The Jewel Tones Choir under the direction of Choir & Musi… https://t.co/bwfMuIiXvh18 days ago
  • TBT - 2011 Animal Kinship Fashion Show. Our AKM teamed with local school for stylists and makeup artists and a pop… https://t.co/hRrHX41my318 days ago
Latest Facebook Update

Center for Spiritual Living Capistrano Valley

Center for Spiritual Living Capistrano Valley

Timeline photos

... See MoreSee Less

8 hours ago  ·  


Photo

View on Facebook

·
Share



Share on Facebook



Share on Twitter



Share on Linked In



Share by Email

Center for Spiritual Living
© Copyright Center for Spiritual Living Capistrano Valley