The Test of Time

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." — Albert Einstein

Perhaps the most powerful trigger for igniting a man's reactive impulses is the concept of time. Einstein demonstrated to all mankind that time is, in fact, an illusion. However, we allow this illusion to govern our lives, to dictate our emotions and control our behavior.

When a student of Kabbalah practices the art of Restriction—stopping his reactive behavior—he knows that he has connected himself to the 99% realm of Light.

However, in order to test and strengthen our Free Will, our adversary in life has the power to inject the concept of time into the natural cause and effect process. In other words, this block of time delays the rewards reaped from proactive behavior. And that is when we commit the biggest folly of them all: We react to the delay and ask "Where is the Light?" "Why didn't it work?"  The Adversary trips you up simply by throwing a little time into the process.

From this simple example we can all learn the following lesson:

Next time you apply Restriction in your life, and nothing happens, Restrict again. Don't focus upon the result. Instead, focus upon the act of Restriction.

Remember, the souls of man had it all in the Endless World—all the Light, all the joy, all the fulfillment. What we did not have was the ability to be the cause and creators of this Divine radiance. The moment we Restrict our reactions, we become like God. We become creators of our destiny.

Always remember, we are dwelling in this illusionary physical reality for the sole purpose of Restriction, not for the rewards.  The moment we let go of the results, we have achieved our purpose in life. We are proactive instead of reactive.

And NOW, we are free to receive all the rewards in a proactive manner.

Therein lies the paradox: in the moment we let go of our desire for results, we attain them.

But time will always be there to test us and to trick us into reacting.

by Rav Berg