The Camel Knows the Way

 

A Journey By Lorna Kelly, Author, Auctioneer, Speaker & Meditation Leader

 

In her book, The Camel Knows the Way, Lorna talks about her British upbringing, her wildly successful career at Sotheby’s, breaking through the glass ceiling in a male dominated world, being fired despite her success, coming to terms with her alcoholism, her divorce and her spiritual quest, which led her to Calcutta to meet Mother Teresa. She stayed three weeks, volunteering at the House for the Dying, where she witnessed unimaginable poverty, human decay and wreckage.  Yet she returned many times over the years, developing a deep bond with Mother Teresa.  

 

 

Some take aways

• Other characters in my life had come and gone but there was always one person featured in every disastrous episode – one person who was always at the scene of every tawdry crime – me

• We often produce our own unhappiness by continually repeating the same destructive behavior

• I was aware of the damage the desire for possessions could inflict on the soul. I learned the joy of doing without

 

Sotheby’s

• These were rich New Yorkers engaged in the light frothy chatter of the socially elevated. I was not one of them

• I was a top auctioneer. I made a lot of money for the company.

• After thirteen years it was over. I had no idea where I was going or what lay ahead 

 

God

• I prayed to God to let my annoyance subside but He must have been busy in China or some other place

• I had to let God run the show: I did hope He knew what He was doing

• I didn’t know it then and still find it elusive to comprehend that God has already given me everything I need 

 

Alcoholism

• I had yearning to be filled with the spirit. Maybe thats why I ingested such great quantities of it

• I thought alcohol gave me the courage I needed but in fact it gave me a false courage

• No matter how you feel if you put your head on the pillow at night and haven’t had a drink, you’re a success

 

Volunteering

• I thought being around so much suffering would make me tolerant. No such luck

• I scooped her up like a baby. She was like a bony bird in my arms. My heart cracked open. I felt the shift

 

Mother Teresa

• This little old lady sitting on the floor could run General Motors

• She keeps her ey on the details as well as the big picture

• Spiritual maturity is not waiting for things to feel right. We do things because we know they are right.