What's our significance? Should we fear death? Is our life meaningful?

Consider the sun.
Created from cosmic dust.
Creator of an entire solar system.
Gives warmth and light to planets,
 where things evolve, grow, maybe to greatness.
The sun grows old and dies. Some explode,
 showering the universe with dust so more suns
 can be born.

Mighty is the sun, but no more so than one of us.
We are born from dust.
We raise a family.
 where things evolve, grow, maybe to greatness.
We grow old and die. We turn to dust so more sons
 can be born.

Richard Dasheiff Feb 4, 2000