The standard for truth

No one wants to talk about it and we spend boatloads of money trying to avoid it. Yet, none can escape it.

In my reading from The Lakota Way this morning on the subject of truth was this:  

"...when all is said and done there is only one truth that is unwavering. It has endured and will always endure because it will stand unabashedly and without apology. That truth is death, and it is the one that is avoided and most feared by American society. But it should be the standard for truth against which all others are measured. And we will find that nothing can compare with its honesty and faithfulness."

I found this whole section (pp.121-123) somewhat ... refreshing. While so many of us think of death in only negative terms, the Native Americans do not. As they say, "Death does not kill. Disease, accidents, rage, old age, stupidity, among others, are killers. Death is only part of the process of life."

Nothing is more simple, true, or inevitable than death. Nothing is more fair either. It comes to any and every living creature. As the author points out, "Life begins with birth and ends with death. With no other journey you travel can you know how it will end."

It is also noted that living well means dying well. Maybe not the manner, but, as Jason Ringenberg has said, "The point is dying if we don't live when we're alive!" 

Anyway, I wanted to share this today. Not only as a way of trying to paint death in its more natural light, but also in case I ever need to speak at a funeral again. I hope to remember this section from this book, and the Native way of looking at perhaps our greatest truth.