Life and death are part of the divine plan. Since life is the most sacred gift of God, we need to fulfil the obligation to save the life of our fellow brothers and sisters.Whoever sustains a single person is one who sustains the whole world, and whoever destroys a single person is one who destroys the whole world for every person bears the divine image and every person was created unique and irreplaceable.
In its plan of creation, the physical body is the vehicle of providing life's vital energy for all actions. The body also houses its soul which plants the seed of thoughts, hopes and dreams.Behind all its actions, there is also an active mind which creates thoughts endlessly . Life activity is dependent on the ideal working of the body's organs.
What happens when these organs individually or collectively do not function? Medical science has provided numerous solutions to improve the functioning of individual human organs. Modern technology has made it possible to transplant hearts, kidneys, pancreases, corneas, lungs and livers from one human being to another. It is beyond dispute that organ and tissue transplants save and extend the quality of lives.
The ultimate act of altruism is for a living donor to make the gift of an organ to someone in need. Rather than deepen our pain at the time of our loved one's death, this ultimate act of generosity to donate organs may actually soften our loss and uplift us.
The organ donor has the opportunity to make the ultimate sacrifice and the recip ient of the organ gets a new life. Thus organ donation leads to a win-win situation for all. Being willing to donate an organ from our own bodies would be an example of selfless sacrifice for another. One of the most compelling arguments for organ donation is the love, mercy and compassion such an act demonstrates towards others.
Saving life is a fundamental imperative in all religions. In principle, we must all support and encourage organ donation in order to save lives. The ultimate respect for the dead is to enable them to save a life, giving life is the highest form of respect of life.
However there can be significant emotional, spiri tual blocks and psychological factors to fulfilling our obligation such as organ donation. Sometimes it leads family members to block their deceased loved one's organ donation out of emotional discomfort or misplaced devotion. But it is our responsibility to honour God's name and to save lives by giving the gift of life by donating organs.
All religious and spiritual leaders as well as all inter-faith organisations and NGOs can unitedly come together and make Organ Donation Day a grand success by creating awareness among their followers at all religious places and educational institutes, by communicating their willingness to donate organs. Let us draw inspiration from the family of the three-year-old girl from Kerala who has become the youngest donor by donating her liver, kidneys and corneas to save the life of another five-year-old boy in the hospital as she was declared brain dead.
Let us say with one voice, “I would like to help someone to live after death.“ Let us remember a bumper sticker which reads, “Don't take your organs to heaven because heaven knows we need them here.“
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