The Old Man and his Garden
Thoughts regarding God and Modern Life.

The Old Eskimos, when they know it's time, dine with their family in the evening. When dinner is over they depart from family and friends and leave the Igloo never to return, freezing to death in the eternal snow.

Living with Pride, Dying in Shame.
My neighbor Ino Venezia was of Italian origin.
Born in Rome to a Jewish family, a Partisan in the 2nd world war and immigrated to Israel in 1947, Ino witnessed the struggles, failures and successes of his new country and generation for the last 50 years.

10 years ago when I came to live in my new house, I met Ino and watched with admiration how Ino (who was 74 at the time) was taking care of himself and his surroundings. He used to grow in his garden the most wonderful flowers, herbs and Basil plants, enriching my view at day and my Pastas at night.

Every morning following his morning shower and shave I used to meet with Ino at his garden to discuss world events while picking the best green onion for my morning salad. Ino never married and we had many debates regarding the matter - marriage versus living without a companion. Ino was the epitome of a person who, although living alone and being old, carried himself with pride and dignity.

Three years ago in the dead of winter, Ino had some lungs problems and was admitted to the hospital. When Ino returned two weeks later he was a changed man, a different person. After one more week of absence from our morning encounters, Ino finally came to his garden and told me of the horrible time and the painful events he had to go through while staying at the hospital.
He told me of the nurses who would only change his sheets once a week. He told me how they would not bother to clean him properly, splashing some water over his body once in three days and how he felt like a pitiful baby - a feeling he never had in his life - living as a proud human being.

Whose life is it, Any way?
In old Greece, when Socrates knew his time has come, he summoned all his friends, pupils and relatives to a last farewell dinner party. That night, after all have drunk and eaten, Socrates went to his room, took a poisonous potion and died peacefully in his bed.

In the old days, a person's body belonged to the person himself, not to G_d.
It is only now, since Religion has gained so much power and influence, that the sovereignty over one's body has been taken away from one's hands and given to the state - under the welcoming eyes and bank accounts of the Religious establishment, who in Israel and in other countries as well has a domineering status over the ruling government.

Religious people believe it is G_d who gives life, thus it is G_d who should take that life away.
They may be right, but shouldn't this decision be subjective? Shouldn't a person have the power and control over his own death, being able to choose when and how to end 'the journey'? Isn't Euthanasia the ultimate way one can exercise the most crucial choice, the one between life and death?

Quality Verses Quantity.
"More is never Enough" - David Bowie.
There is a tendency in modern society to substitute quality by quantity.
We live by the false promise that since the self is the most important thing in the Western Ego-centered world, that self should be pampered - by material things, the more the better, and for the longest time possible. But is it really to the benefit of the old person, to have his life extended at all costs, losing all dignity and self-respect in the process? Most old people, if asked, would prefer to terminate their life before they are put at the mercy of an army of enthusiastic nurses and doctors, armed with artificial and medical devises and financed either by family or by the state medical insurance.

A while ago, a friend of mine was visiting her grandmother, who was hospitalized in a state of coma, and was kept alive by a lung and heart machine. After my friend told me of her grandmother, lying unconsciously in the hospital with tubes and pipes probing in and out of her body, I asked her if she thinks there was any kind of benefit to her grandmother - being kept alive this way, not responding or recognizing any beloved person of her past. My friend response was she did not care - it was important for her to see and stay next to her grandmother - as much as she could, and the more, the better.

The Next World.
Even though the idea of 'The Next World' was initiated and implemented onto the public cognition by religious leaders. Some of these leaders even took this idea and presented it as if it was a prize given only to true believers, perhaps belief in such idea could make it easier to depart from loved ones.
Hence on the sociological level it would assist the idea of Euthanasia, the idea of providing a person with the possibility of deciding when to end it all - since he will return in the next world.
But is it not the mere idea of Death, of confronting with it, that is the main issue disabling mankind from taking full responsibility over Death?
Hence the welcome surrender to the religious attitude - "let God decide, not the person".

The main issue is not the next world, but this world (which some say IS the next world but that's a different issue.). Ino, since his return from the hospital, was obsessed with one idea: How to die peacefully.
Alas, the hypocrisy of the general public backed by the medical and the religious establishment was preventing him from taking his own life.

When one grows old, ironically one becomes afraid of death.
When Ino learned of a book named: "One Hundred Ways of Suicide", he asked me to try and buy this book over the Internet, since it was not available in Hebrew. Although this book was well known, not one store had it in stock, as if it never existed!

The Amorphic Principal.
In Nature, the direction and the natural course of events is towards decay and disorder, i.e. Death. We never get to see a broken glass springs back from the floor to become the glass we had a moment ago in our hands, drinking water from it.
The flowers in our garden will only survive if we water them, while disposing of bad weeds surrounding them. When we live and flourish in our society, we negate the Amorphic Principal, creating a surrounding neighborhood which we tend to believe as a better one, a protective one for us. We try to find cures to all our illnesses. We try to find the fountain of youth, going through long and expensive genetic researches. But we can't really win. We must all die.

Eventually, Mankind has to suffice to the Amorphic Principal, like all animals do. Ino, towards the end of his life, was surrendering to the Amorphic Principal, by professing his Death Wish to me. But ironically, some of our most enriching and wonderful conversations took place after his return from the hospital, making me think how unfortunate and sad it could have been if Ino was not around. So perhaps after all, the decision whether one should be responsible for one's death is not easy, witnessing some of the conflicts over this issue. Or is it society itself that has taken mankind away from sovereignty over our own life and death, while disabling us from clear comprehension of the facts regarding this matter?

Conclusion.
Mankind refuses to confront and comprehend the issue of death. We regard our life and the people close to us as immortal. Since Religion and religious leaders have confiscated control over life from mankind, one never regards Death as a close companion. Once we learn how to address death as a homogenous part of life, conflicts and decisions regarding this issue would be easier to comprehend and execute. Perhaps it would be wise if we recall what Goethe - the great German poet - has once said: "Death is the shadow behind our shoulder".

How the story evolved..
A short time after Ino's return from the hospital his condition has deteriorated. He was diagnosed as suffering from Alzheimer illness, his memory decomposing at a frantic pace. Still, he has maintained his dignity. On a clear day, when the social worker came to visit him, one could hear Ino chasing her off the stairs leading to his green painted door with his loud horace voice: "Go Away!!! No one asked you to come here!!!"

During this time Ino became extremely cautions about our water supply. When I was parking my car and at other times, Eno would constantly remind and warn me to be extra cautious not to hit any of the water taps in our yard.

Another month passed and Ino's condition deteriorated. He was definitely getting close to his end.

One morning I woke up for no apparent reason around 5:00AM. I went down the stairs of my house and into the yard to welcome dawn. As I approached Ino's house I noticed with surprise that his lights inside the house were on. When I looked at the bottom of the stairs leading to his house I noticed a big puddle of water. I thought this was strange - after all of Ino's warning about the water!

I climbed up and knocked on his door. No answer. I knocked again, this time louder. No answer. I became worried and anxious. I knocked for the 3rd time, this time calling his name: "Ino, Ino!" Still no answer.

I went home and called his nephew who was living nearby. He arrived in five minutes and joined me and another neighbor - Adam - who was as strong as a bull. We kept knocking on Ino's door until there was no choice and the door was broken by Adam.

To my horror we found Ino lying on his bed unconscious. An empty box of sleeping pills was near him on the shelf...

The unfortunate End.
Ino was sent to the hospital by an ambulance.

I went to visit him few days later and found Ino in the exact shape he was so afraid of: with minimum help and no dignity. He could hardly speak because he was so weak. It was sad and frustrating to witness this and to think that because I followed my common sense and the bible rule, which disallowed a person to take his own life, Ino was destined to a death with no dignity, in a strange environment, not his own house.

Ino died after three weeks in the hospital. I attended his funeral and asked for forgiveness in my heart.

Should one be able to take his own life, facing such grim future? I don't have an answer to this question but it seems modern life is in contradiction with the divine Bible wisdom. Have we gone so far away by wrong choices, resulting in such undignified death as in the case of Ino Venezia?