We live in a world in which death reigns. No one has escaped it and no one will avoid it, our body must surely die – this is as true as two times two. Every day we listen to the news that talks about many deaths - about those who died in disasters, in wars, from diseases or simply from old age. However, we know this without news, because death also visits the circle of those people whom we know personally: neighbors, relatives, friends, acquaintances.

So, death is inevitable, that's indisputable. But do we think about it, do we remember it? As a rule, very rarely, and if we do, we treat it in a completely unchristian way. What should be the Christian attitude to death?

First of all, you need to treat it without fear. After all, death for a Christian, if he lives in a Christian way, is not death, but eternal life. Therefore, the death of the body is not terrible for him. Only the death of the soul is terrible for him. What is the death of the soul? A person consists of a body and a soul. And therefore for him there are two lives and two deaths: the life and death of the body and the life and death of the soul. The life and death of the body are obvious to everyone: the human body lives for some time on earth, after which it dies. As for the soul, it also has its own life and death. There is only one source of life for the soul – union with God, the restoration of that communion with God which Adam broke. If the soul unites with God through His Grace, then it is alive and will live forever. But if the soul, leading a godless and sinful life, moves away from God, then it dies, and its fate is eternal death, which, however, is not complete destruction, but hell and hell.

The Gospel teaches that Christians do not need to fear the death of the body, but the death of the soul should be very much feared. "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body," says Christ, "but rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." The soul dies when it is separated from God, when it breaks communion with Him, when it moves away from Him. Sins and passions separate us from God: pride, vanity, selfishness, self-conceit, envy, lust, greed, addiction to earthly things – all this separates us from God and kills the soul, making it a prey to hell. As long as the soul lives in the body, its death may not be externally noticeable, because the soul is invisible to physical sight, and therefore its life or death is also externally invisible. But the difference between a dead soul and a living soul becomes a terrible reality after its separation from the body. A living soul, according to the words of St. Macarius of Egypt, is then like a newborn infant, for whom parents rejoice and embrace him. A dead soul is like an infant born dead, who, because of his deadness, is unfit to live among people, and whom only needs to be carried out and buried.

Thus, if after the departure of the soul from the body it turns out that the Holy Spirit, the only source of its life, does not dwell in it, then such a soul is dead and incapable of the eternal life of the Kingdom of Christ, which is why it is destined for death and hell. If the Holy Spirit dwells in the soul, then it will be alive. Such a soul is joyfully accepted by the holy celestials and led into blessed eternity.

However, someone may say that if the death of the body for Christians is not death, but eternal life, then should we not try to bring it closer in order to quickly pass into this life? Of course not. After all, earthly life is a necessary part of the path predestined for us by God. Like the other parts, it is a great gift that we must use to fulfill the will of God, to serve God and people. Earthly life must be accepted with gratitude and go through it to the end. To arbitrarily renounce life, to neglect it, would mean, in the words of Elder Paisius of Athos, to throw this gift in the face of the giver, that is, God. It is for this reason that suicide is a grave sin. Suicides, as you know, are not even buried by the Church, and they leave our world without Christian guidance.

Earthly life is given to man so that, having lived it correctly, he may acquire true life for himself, acquire eternity through time. If the soul, while living in time, has acquired life for itself, then the death of the body is no longer terrible for man, for he has in himself the source of eternal life. It is in this sense that the Apostle Paul said that life for him is Christ, and therefore death for him is gain. The Apostle even wished to be separated from the body and die in order to be with Christ, for this is incomparably better than living on earth. However, knowing that his service to Christ in our world was not yet over, the Apostle joyfully and patiently walked the course of his earthly life to the end.