organ donation

I am highly interested in the responces that this one gets It will anser a bunch uf questions that I have :smirk:

Our bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit and will be fully resurrected. There is a lot of mystery in this and I\'m really not qualified to explain what little I understand but I\'m sure there are plenty of Clergy and Theologians here that can.

I do as well. It seems that even in death I can give one last act of love and hopefully save someone\'s life. I think the issue would be if there was some monetary incentive or otherwise to do so.

Hi again, I had looked up a little bit before I posted but could find nothing concrete or \\"officially\\" Orthodox on the whole issue. I had remembered something in a bulltin that my priest years ago written saying that cremation wasn\'t specifically outlawed or against any Cannon, just not traditional. But since other groups were cremating Orthodoxy in general became opposed to it. That mindset kinda grew to what Anjali expressed. However writing this is all from memory from years ago. Chrysanthos, good questions and those are some in the back of my mind too. Another thing I remembered from the writings of the priest was that no one knows what heaven is like and what we do. Do we sit around on clouds strumming harps, eating at a buffet (served by Deacons?) all day long, or do we stand around singing praises to God about how great He is (like he doesn\'t already know). The point is we just don\'t know. The cremation thing from the cadavers was taken directly from my friend who was working on her Medical Doctorate at the time. However is this practice universal I can not say. I think she did say some parts were just thrown away. Anyway half of what I was thinking was just memories in the back of my head. The other half was thinking of my cousin.

I also am not qualified to, as Nikola says, explain what little I understand. Please forgive me if I say something incorrect. When thinking about cremation... I always think about the wonder-working saints. Once we die... yes, our souls are separated from the body, but yet the body still has the grace of God dwelling within it. That is why the relics of the saints have myrrh flowing out of them, or remain warm and incorrupt. Even a person who is not a saint is still sanctified through baptism and by trying to lead a pure life.. we don\'t just want to turn around and burn that. We want to treat our bodies, which are temples of the Holy Spirit, with the respect. As far as donating goes. I think that putting ones organs in another\'s body may not be ideal, but I also see the need that people have, and the motivation that people have for doing it. I do kind of have a problem with being a heart donor, just because the heart is very spiritual... I think the issue of being an organ donor is probably more of a matter of interpretation.