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Organ Donation: A Christmas Gift

by Dr. Reeja Tharu on Dec 24 2011 4:02 PM
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Its Christmas yet again!

It’s a time of the year to bury the past, re-live good thoughts and look forward to the future.

It’s also a time to unwind and allow the season’s cheer to seep through!  Most of us have heard it all –the traditions, customs, religious history, binging and the sales—nevertheless, let’s take a short journey, once again, through the winter wonderland of Christmas!

It’s been told time and again that Christmas is the annual celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, two thousand years ago, in an obscure cattle shed in the little town of Bethlehem in Judea, set in present day Israel!

Christians believe that Christ was a messiah, a gift to mankind! There are theories and argument galore but all that cannot snatch away the mind-blowing magic from this uniquely beautiful celebration..!

It took a very long time for Christmas festivities to take its present form that we are so familiar with. Over the centuries the celebrations have changed from paganistic to puritanic to those purely for pleasure..!

Drinking, flesh eating, merry making and carol singing for money were all paganistic methods. Then came the puritans who abhorred the paganistic rituals which they set out to do away with.

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Much later, X’mas acquired an old world charm, with European customs finding a place in the celebrations –the yuletide, evergreen trees, traditional decors, carol singing, puddings and a wide array of exclusives slowly found their way into the global merriment.

X’mas without Christ

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The story of X’mas is about God’s gift of Himself to mankind. The tradition of giving gifts during X’mas has its roots in the three wise men bearing gold, frankincense and myrrh as presents to the baby Jesus.

But through the recent years Christ seems to haveslowly eased himself out of Christmas.

In the western calendar, X’mas is strategically placed between Thanksgiving and new year and this has given way to nearly three months of bonanza, year after year. The religious undertones are mostly ignored and Christmas day now represents a holiday season –a wonderful time to eat, drink and be merry.

Santa’s gifts

Gift giving during the season borders on a frenzy that is overtly generated from compulsion. Shopping sprees are a universal feature of X’mas as lovers, spouses, parents, neighbors, friends and siblings participate in the last minute rush to buy that coveted gift for a loved one..!

Children wait with feverish anticipation for the proverbial Santa Claus even as parents use every arsenal in their kitty to please their offsprings!

This frenzy has deepened with each passing year as shops and malls do everything in their commercial might to tug at the purse string of even the most reluctant of holiday shoppers.

Gift of Life

Life itself is a celebration and X’mas is but an excuse! At the risk of sounding clichéd one wonders at the appropriateness of opulence and bonhomie in the name of a kindred soul whose birth among the lowliest must be a lesson to mankind now, and for all times to come.

On that note, we in MedIndia want to promote the essence of X’mas through the joy of giving – The gift of life..!

Remember, one organ and tissue donor can directly save nine lives!

This Christmas season let us all take a pledge to “BE AN ORGAN DONOR AND DONATE THE GIFT OF LIFE..!”

Source-Medindia


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