Usually I hear three things when discussing the meaning of death and god.

"It was just his time, he is in a better place" In other words, god has already planned this out and the deceased are required to goto heaven. What would god need with anyone in heaven for, idk, maybe to battle satan? Of course, why would he need help? Idk...

"the lord give'th and the lord take'th away" I am probably misspelling that, but I dont know old english...hopefully you understand. This phrase seems to insinuate that god gave you life and is free to take it when he wishes. Of course why would he wish to take your life? It doesnt really make sense.

"Thank god that I/we/they survived" I like to rephrase this one to better put it into perspective, "Thank god that god did not kill everyone".

These three things dont make any sense when thought out. But thats just it....that is religion, the absence of thought. And what better way to not think about something than to regurgitate one liners that are rarely questioned? In fact the only answer I have gotten when questioning these things always seems to come in the form of "God works in mysterious ways". Of course that statement is completely nonsense and meaningless, yet they proudly proclaim that as if it has some sort of deeper meaning.

Comment 2 by Steve Zara :

How, in the face of events which human kindness and concern registers as tragic and in need of help – help which human beings proceed to give to their fellows: no angels appear from the sky to do it – can they believe such an incoherent fiction as the idea of a deity? This is a perennial puzzle.

With great respect to Grayling, I see no puzzle. Many people find it intolerable that they are utterly powerless in the face of an empty and uncaring reality. That would be simply too much to bear. And so, they build the feeling that there is a deity on the foundation of the vague sense that there must be something more. Rationality is not involved, just emotion: when the feeling of 'should be' becomes strong enough it changes into a belief in 'must be'. The incoherence of the idea is no problem, indeed it allows the idea to adapt to fit almost any circumstance.

That seems more like a philosophical reason as to why religion was formed, rather than a reason to continue worshiping.