Well as you might guess as a Pastor I am forced to deal with the issue of death more then most.  Tonight I lost a close personal friend to the great mystery of death.  Most of us have at one time or another experienced the great sting and pain of death.  However I think it is important for us to all remember that death is not the end but instead only a new beginning.  Paul put it this way and it has helped me often.  Phil. 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  For those of us who are left death is something we can only see as a loss.  But to die in Christ is gain.  While we may lose a loved one, they gain everything.  They gain it ALL!!!  Heaven is a great place of joy, love, peace, worship, and so much more.  When we die in Christ we don't lose a thing, we gain it all.  I hope we can all perhaps gain some peace by knowing that the death of those we love and our own death, is not a loss, but a gain when you look at it in the scope of eternity.