You Call that Fun?

"How are we going to have fun if we're studying and doing good deeds and mitzvot (commandments) all day?""But what are we going to do in the Messianic Era?"
These are typical of the questions people ask when they learn that in the Messianic Era our lives will be filled with spiritual pursuits and that even the material prosperity we will experience is only to make the study of Torah and observance of mitzvot easier.
How we define "fun" and "enjoyable" is not a constant. Children certainly can't imagine that spending an entire day reading a good book is enjoyable. To them, playing outside in a park or at some kind of sports activity is great fun. But reading a book?!
Then there are those adults who cultivated an appreciation for classical music or the "fine arts." As youngsters, could they ever have imagined that they would later enjoy going to museums and listening to fine music? (For that matter, can their children imagine what their parents find enjoyable about these activities?)
The list goes on:
The dedication and devotion of sports enthusiasts - participants or fans - is unfathomable to one who has no interest in sports.
Rap doesn't fit into the category of music to many people, yet it has many devotees worldwide.
Get the picture?
In the Messianic Era, our desire, enjoyment and enthusiasm for studying Torah and performing mitzvot will be cultivated. We will enjoy doing these things. Mitzvot will be fun.
But we needn't wait until the Holy Temple is rebuilt and all of us are back in Israel before Torah and mitzvot are fun. Just talk to some friends who spend Shabbat with the family, or regularly communicate with their Creator, or study Jewish books on an ongoing basis. More often than not they'll tell you they enjoy doing these mitzvot.
For those of us who still might consider all of this totally incomprehensible, the following story will hopefully clarify the issue:
A beggar went from house to house collecting money. Day after day, hour after hour, he trudged not only up and down the streets of his little village, but up and down the steps of the fancy homes or apartment buildings whence he collected the money.
"Someday, when I am rich and powerful, I will make a rule that no houses can have their front doors above street level and all apartment buildings must have elevators," thought the beggar boldly. "What's more, I will have all of the houses that do not fit this description rebuilt. In this way, when I go begging from house to house and apartment to apartment, it will be much easier for me and I won't become so tired."
What is the problem with the poor man's logic? He is so entrenched in his lifestyle of begging that he cannot fathom that when he is rich and powerful he will no longer need to beg!
Similarly, because we are so entrenched in our material lives, where holiness, spirituality and G-dliness are so hidden, we try to superimpose our mundane attitudes onto life in the Messianic Era.
By learning more about the Messianic Era and cultivating an appreciation in the here and now for Torah and mitzvot, we will begin to live the Redemption and thus hasten the age of peace, harmony and good for all mankind that we all intrinsically want.