Death and other certainties

As the preacher spoke, delivering his message of devotion enrobed in fear and guilt, I couldn't help but remain where I stood. I was at a funeral after all. He told a story like many I had heard before about someone who had come to realize that fearing death was essential to living a religious life. He spoke about the need for the fear of death to consistently remind us to stay attached to the One. Then he went on to speak about how we are all ticking time bombs that could go off at any moment, leading to our eventual demise. I did not connect with the words of this preacher. He spoke of death with such incredibly negative connotations. I wanted to say something to him, similar to these words spoken below:

Of course, I didn't. Instead, I tried to understand what it was about his message that made me feel so detached. Very simply, it was the idea of living a life in fear and living a life in which our actions and behaviours are motivated and driven by fear. There is no arguing against fear being a strong motivator. It's an emotion that gets things done - exams, projects, presentations, event planning. It just doesn't feel like the healthiest motivator. And what really bugged me was the preaching of this type of a lifestyle and its forced association with spirituality. Any faint glimpses of spirituality that I've ever had seem to come from a place that's polar opposite to fear. Rather, these instances seem to be related to feelings of deep appreciation and gratefulness. I guess this is how I feel about death - death should not serve as a source of fear to drive life but rather as a reminder to be grateful for the life we are so lucky to have.