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Psalms 116:15
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
A good friend of mine lost her most beloved father yesterday. She loves her dad. She calls herself a "daddy's girl." She had told me once that he was "the glue that held us together." When she would speak of her father to me it was in the most tender and loving way. I meet him once, even at his advanced age, he arose from the chair in which he sat to shake my hand. My dear friend has a broken heart with the passing of her most cherished man. She feels the void left by "the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return."
This is made even more difficult as there is something precious in the father daughter relationship that is hard to explain and impossible to replace. Words rarely comfort during times of loss, but memories made, and reunions to be made, are often the only solace to a broken heart; for it is memories and faith that bring sustaining strength, hope, and comfort. Grief is as real an emotion as any and "the only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life."
It is this loss that drew my mind to ponder the purpose of death in this life. Death can come swiftly and unexpectedly or slow and painfully. Whether we have months to prepare or if it comes in a blink of an eye, we are never ready for the painful void this physical separation leaves within us.
During this life we take on a physical body to house our eternal spirit. The spirit and the body together is a living Soul. The physical aspect of our Soul grows old, it earns battle scars, it tires, and it will eventually give a way to physical death. At this physical death, the body and the spirit are separated for a time. The Scriptures call this a returning to the earth.
Life does not begin at birth, nor does it conclude at death. This life is but a moment in our eternal existence. If we peer through mortal eyes solely, death is painfully bleak and we are left broken hearted, and hopeless. But a loving God, our Eternal Father, put in place a plan that can speak peace to the grieving heart.
Because of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son, even Jesus Christ, there is a certain bright hope we have of a Resurrection. What comes to mind are the words, "He is not here: for He is risen." Jesus Christ bursts the bands of death. And the Scriptures ring out, "O death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?" This resurrection is a gift to all. All will be resurrected; our spirit will again be reunited with our resurrected and glorified body.
Death truly is a passing, not an end; a passing from one state to another. When we die, we "are taken home to that God that gave them life." We are then reunited with loved ones and friends that passed before us. Our most precious associations that we make in this life continue on the other side of the veil, that separates us from them. Our separation is only but for a time.
There is hope. Hope in a brighter day, an abiding hope in the power of the Holy One. Because Jesus Christ offered himself a sacrifice and overcame physical death, all will live again. And sweet will be our reunions.
What Is This Thing Called Death
What is this thing that men call death
This quiet passing in the night?
’Tis not the end but genesis
Of better worlds and greater light.
O God, touch Thou my aching heart
And calm my troubled, haunting fears.
Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure,
Give strength and peace beyond my tears.
There is no death, but only change,
With recompense for vict’ry won.
The gift of Him who loved all men,
The Son of God, the Holy One.
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https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/1.14,16-17,19?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/1-cor/15.22?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/28.6?lang=eng#5
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1992/04/doors-of-death?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/40.11?