Integrity isn’t a word you hear a lot anymore. Perhaps that is because it isn’t given the same value by people it once was. Or, maybe we just don’t like to think about it. If we hold other people to a high standard of integrity we might feel obligated to meet that same standard ourselves. It is not easy to live a life of integrity, and yet, most of us know that we should.
Integrity means having a conscience and honoring this conscience even when doing so may involve considerable personal sacrifice. It means placing the dictates of the soul and God above those of the ego. Individuals with integrity have a guiding commitment to honesty and sincerity, faithfulness, compassion, love, and the pursuit of truth. They see life as a process of learning, growth, and servant hood rather than self-indulgence. They take responsibility for the life and gifts they have been given, and for the commitments they have made.
What most people don’t realize about integrity is that it is the glue that bonds the ego to the soul. When you serve the soul you partake in the eternity of the soul. When you serve only yourself you become estranged from your soul and share only the fickle and fleeting enchantments of society, or the power drives of your ego.
Death is like a strainer; the soul and the infinite pass through, but the temporal, shallow, and the shoddy are filtered out. As you align yourself with your soul through a life lived with integrity, death is not so fearsome, traumatic or painful. In fact, it is not unlike stepping across a threshold into a new world.