There are some who are afraid of the times of Moshiach.
They wonder: What will happen to my career? My whole lifestyle will have to change! What about all the acquaintances and connections I’ve spent a lifetime building? What about all my worldly possessions, my retirement plan, my investments? Will they take my car away?
Even these people have nothing to fear. Because the era that is coming is not something separate from our times. It is pieced together from all the good we do now, and all good things shall remain.
Only the ugliness will vanish, and the divine within each thing will be obvious to the eye.
You do not know, but you believe. That is what faith is. But faith is not automatic; faith is a gift. What does that mean?
Think of when you receive a gift that you're not quite sure of, but you love the one who gave you the gift. Would you throw it away, or would you set it on the table? Each time you walk by it, you look at it, twist your face a little, and think about throwing it away. But you don't, because it reminds you of the one you love. So you keep it. For years and years you keep it, if only because it reminds you of the one you love.
Then one day when you are out walking on the street, you see the very same item in a shop window. It reminds you of the one you love so strongly that you have to go into the shop and see why it's there, and how they got it. Turns out, it's not for sale. It's just there because the shop owner wants to show it to the world, which so badly needs this gift.
And maybe our doubt gives it the greatest meaning of all.
Belief and Knowledge When you have faith and believe in something that also means that you have the inexplicable knowledge about it too. Thus belief includes the knowledge and the first statement of Lorie is incorrect. It is very difficult to properly explain some matters and so sometimes we give up trying and simply believe in or about them. But that does not mean that an explanation is not possible.
And as for that Moshiach, although we earnestly wish for his fast arrival, every time he gets closer it is an if there is a n increased asymptotic trend toward his actually arrival. So we should be asking that his rate of closeness to his being here, also becomes no less, too.
It is my claim that the trouble with belief is that it is 100% certain (no explanation being necessary) and the trouble with scientific knowledge is that it is not, (the explanations being imperfect).
How can belief be 100% certain? We appear to be finite individuals, and the one who has captured our faith is infinite. To what was originally written and spoken to our ancestors, we are observers and interpreters, in support of your statement that even scientific knowledges is imperfect, with which I can agree.
Without doubt, would we not think the explanations are perfect, in both science and faith? I think doubt is somewhat like salt, it can both sting a wound add flavor to a meal? But without it, even scientists may think their explanations are perfect, as history shows.
Do you wish the trend to continue? Unless I am mistaken (I am not a mathemetician), as long as our faith is in the infinite, we may have no choice. Therefore, while I propose that faith is a gift, I suggest that accepting that gift is pure decision made by each one's entire being. Some may call this certainty. But even that decision may not totally dispell doubt, any more than salt can lose its flavor.