 Reflections on Organ Donation |
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by Cherian Thomas |
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The human body is an amazing structure. Just when we think we have learned everything there is to know about it a fresh new discovery comes along that catches everyone by surprise. And then there is the brain, that intricate computer which no one has fully understood. We take our bodies for granted but as St. Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 6:19 “your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.” We have to treat it with dignity, respect and love. We have been “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Often we appreciate it only when a part gives way as happens when a person develops chronic kidney failure. The kidney not only filters the blood of waste products but it plays a key role in controlling our internal environment, our blood pressure, and in producing a number of hormones. End stage renal disease is now no longer the death sentence it used to be. The artificial kidney was invented by a Dutch doctor soon after the Second World War. The initial bulky machines soon gave way to compact units. Hemodialysis three times a week can sustain a person with chronic kidney failure but it cannot cure. The first renal transplantation was not greeted with the same fanfare as the first heart transplantation but nevertheless it offered a cure to thousands.
There are not enough organs available to meet the needs of those waiting for a donor. The waiting list for cadaver transplantation is very long but it can be shortened when a relative or a spouse donates a kidney. I can’t think of a nobler action than that of a person who offers her kidney so that another may live. God offered his only son so that we may live. Is it too much to ask that we donate an organ so that our loved one – or a stranger - may live? Dr. Cherian Thomas is Executive Secretary, Health & Welfare of the General Board of Global Ministries.
Date posted: Nov 07, 2005 |
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