A teaching from my father, Rabbi Jacob Milgrom, when I was 9 years old. 

By Asher Milgrom

Because when I pray, sometimes I can experience real "Kavanah", wherein I can feel the "Sh'heenah", the presence of God.  If even for just 2 minutes, it fills me with such sweetness, that it carries me through the day no matter what the other 23 hours and 58 minutes are filled with.

Abba, what if you don't experience real Kavanah?

As a matter of fact Asher, my dear son, it is rare for me to experience such Kavanah.  It is a gift from God, and it comes when it comes.  But I keep praying every day because even if Kavanah doesn't come, at the very worst my praying is neutral, a "zero"... because it can never be a negative.

Let me explain he said: Of all things in the universe that God created, only the human is capable of chasing God out of his mind and heart.  Everything else can't help but be filled with God's spirit always, radiating God's purpose in their existence.  The human being however, with his free will and his power of creation can fill his mind and heart with negativity and darkness, and expel God.   However when I pray, even if Kavanah doesn't come, at the very least I have dedicated a few minutes every day in which I don't create any negativity and darkness.  In this way I have created a space for God to come in and fill me.

This is the most important thing in life son, because we can't base doing anything good in life on having experiences of Kavanah... for Kavanah is a gift for which we can't be accountable.  But opening a space for God a few minutes each day we can do, and for this we can be accountable.  Ultimately son, these few minutes each day are the foundation of hope that we can create meaning in our lives, and they are the first step in "Tikkun Olam". (God's instruction that we, as partners in creation, are individually responsible for deliberately and daily making the world a better place.)

For over 40 years those words have been germinating within me, bearing fruit of reflection and self awareness... even when uninvited and unappreciated.  Especially when courting ambitions of greatness or being seduced by grandiose designs of important achievements I feel their roots growing deeper.  From unknown spaces within I can feel his voice... "Not by the might of great power" my son, nor by "the suffering of the soul" will you find fulfillment.  Not by impressive careers or lofty academic achievements, not by material success or ascetic reclusion, not by spectacular success or consuming failure... but by clearing a space for God to come in, 2 minutes each day.