J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life, page 14:

Few of us, I think live daily on the edge of eternity in the conscious way that the Puritans did, and we lose out as a result. For the extraordinary vivacity, even hilarity (yes, hilarity), with which the Puritans lived stemmed directly, I believe, from the unflinching matter-of-fact realism with which they prepared themselves for death, so as always to be found, as it we’re, packed up and ready to go.