I think it is perhaps more useful to ask the question what if we did not die? I think this formation begins to reveal some of the purpose of death. Most of us are not fond of deadlines, experiencing stress around them, or having had bad consequences for them or disappointing outcomes. Nonetheless, if we are honest with ourselves they do push us to get things done; they do lead to the completion of tasks and to a sense of accomplishment. Death is a deadline on life.
If you knew you would live forever would you set goals? Would the goals matter? Would it matter who you married or how you parented if you could just marry again or have "new" children? (would people even marry? What does till death do us part mean then?) Would job performance matter? Would career path matter? Would there be any push to get anything done? In fact in the Star Trek series there are a people called the Q who are immortal, and they are shown to be very immature, aimless and self-absorbed because of the lack of finality in their lives. And in fact throughout history many martyrs and heroes/heroines have the meaning of their life be defined by what they were willing to die for, to forfeit their life for. This formulation also points out that if we live "safely" all the way to the finish line, preserving our life at every turn, but never really doing anything, will we have lived at all?
In some belief systems we do not live forever, but we live multiple lives. However, the belief in reincarnation would actually underscore the importance of death. For each life then is conceptualized as building upon the learning of the past - constructed in a way that allows for specific learning. How then would that happen if we never died and had the chance to try in a new or different ways, to learn the lessons that our soul is trying for? Many people have found their meaning and purpose in life by asking themselves the question what do I want to do before I die?
Death also puts a time line on love. It means we do not have forever to get it right. It means that if we want to be generous, kind, supportive, involved, etc., NOW is the time to do that; we may not have tomorrow. It means that if we have rendered a hurt it is important to rectify it quickly. It means that there is a deadline on forgiveness. If we lived forever would we have motivation to move in decisively with love? I have heard people say that they say "I love you" when they part from a loved one because, God forbid one of them be killed before they are together again, they want the last thing their loved one heard to be "I love you" and not "why didn't you put the dishes away?" While this line of thought could be considered a bit morbid, there is a certain priority set in knowing that if our time is limited Love is the most important motion. It is not uncommon for people on their death bed to say that Love is all that matters, for then as the deadline approaches all the detours and time wasters, and irrelevancies drop away and we see that we are here to Love.
