"Limitless and without consolation would have been our sorrow for close
ones who are dying, if the Lord had not given us eternal life. Our life
would be pointless if it ended with death. What benefit would there then
be from virtue and good deed? Then they would be correct who say: "Let us
eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"
But man was created for immortality, and by His resurrection Christ opened
the gates of the Heavenly Kingdom, of eternal blessedness for those who
have believed in Him and have lived righteously. Our earthly life is a
preparation for the future life, AND THIS PREPERATION ENDS WITH OUR
DEATH. "It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment"
(Heb 9:27). Then a man leaves all his earthly cares; the body
disintegrates, in order to rise anew at the General Resurrection. Often
this spiritual vision begins in the dying even before death, and while
still seeing those around them and even speaking with them, they see what
others do not see."
--St. John Maximovitch LIFE AFTER DEATH
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