I have recently read excerpts from the Katha Upanishad. Instead of constructing a science lesson plan for my students... I had to let loose on the reading's provocations within me:

Death Is A Condiment...
Should it not alarm mankind that after multiple millennia, the question of goodness over pleasantries continues to set fire our existence? In the Katha Upanishad, Death says it best when observing that “[man] falls again and again under my sway”. Even three thousand years ago (when man was not influenced by plasma T.V.’s, vehicles that need $10,000 extra amenities to be up to the social par, or 3 inch by 3 inch gadgets that play last night’s Grey’s Anatomy, receive phone calls, and maintain a fashionable façade with it’s “Hello Kitty” slip cover) mankind suffered from greed and avarice. Perhaps the perpetual repetition of this dilemma gives some merit to the concept of Samsara!
The selection from the Katha Upanishad goes a long way in few words to describe such a cosmic notion as Self in Brahman. During Nachiketas encounter with the inevitable essence of Death, the foundation for goodness is laid out. Ignoring the delusions of wealth, ascertaining the light in goodness, and attempting a definitively true resolve Nachiketas desires only that of the knowledge of Self and the Hereafter. Meanwhile, most other men would continue to experience Samsara due to their total underdevelopment of intellect regarding the matter. It is this that brings Nachiketas to the helm of Yama, where so few mortals have ever endured such warm reception. Yama’s teachings allow man to see, through Nachitketas eyes, the proverbial fork in the road- man may either experience the unity of Atman or Brahman through enlightenment or may delve deeply into the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
In an era where the plights of finding Self are further precluded by the array of identity inhibitors produced by the media, excess materialism, and even the impending demise of Nature, this story contains an aura of ancestral deferral. However, while the wholly goodness that emanates from Nachiketas, along with his indelible acuity, seems almost too nobly faithful for the present day “Westerner”, I have a strong ardency for said faith and nobility.
Moving past the morbidly necrotic image of death that has been laid out in our society, this selection provides an alternative hope. This Hindu perspicuity of existence leads me to believe that there are more than one God’s wishes to abide by, but a universality that exist beyond life and death. As it is said in the Katha Upanishad, if the universal soul, Brahman, is food, then “death itself is a condiment”.

Okay, so I rambled a bit... but if you ever get the chance do a little search on the Katha Upanishad especially regarding Nachiketas, Death, and Yama.