Beyond Sunday School, there are a number of different elaborations. The one I empathize the most with at the moment is that the universe is a crucible meant to

Beyond Sunday School, there are a number of different elaborations. The one I empathize the most with at the moment is that the universe is a crucible meant to prove what is eternal and what is fleeting. You put in a hunk of metal and get out pure gold through a process of burning and discarding all the fleeting things, which necessarily leaves only the eternal. Therefore for everyone there has to come a death, otherwise you would not be fully tested in all things. What is left after that testing is God's life within us, but now a fully tested life that has overcome (or persisted through) everything, including death. It is this gold that glorifies God. So suffering and loss are a crucial part of life, which maybe helps explain why we spend most of our life in our declining years and why those years are the most important, as opposed to many other animals that die not long after reaching maturity. You're supposed to be old and wander around, asking these types of questions!