I know I am probably going to get a lot of flack for this, but these verses actually make more sense to me than most things I have ever learned in all my years of Church and Catechism.
If our final destination is to be the Kingdom of Heaven, then clinging to materialistic wants and desires of the flesh is meaningless. Your actions should be of righteousness and righteousness should be associated with your name for when you die, that is all you take with you. When one shows true emotion in the face of hardship and sadness, it is the truth of the soul - an expression that can not be faked.
There is an underlying believe that when we die, we are released from the pains and suffering of the body and reborn to the Kingdom of Light. But many will wonder why were they born in the first place. We are given this time here, tasked with the purpose to share our light with those souls who are lost from the path of righteousness or seeking companionship with those of likemindedness. When our light goes, it is up to those left behind to pick up the mantle, so they must learn well from those who have gone before them.
...but that is just how I see things...