well its hard to truly identify with something you cant quantify. same reason why so many people have problems with emuna. its hard to imagine the anticipation and desire one should feel for moshiach and the bayis shlishi…heres how i do it. i find things in the world that act as a mashal to what i should feel and try to apply it to moshiach and bayis shlishi. for example (and im not kidding) presidential elections. especially obama’s and the upcoming elections in 2012. people are in the dumps now, when the recession struck in 2008 people looked to obama to be their salvation. now people are looking to the conservatives to produce a “messiah” (so to speak) take an example from that and apply it to how you should feel about moshiach. obviously that doesnt fill the need for the “i believe he is coming next minute” but its a start.
or…for bayis shlishi…the world trade center. 10 years ago the towers fell and the WTC was destroyed, and i can tell you that i felt anticipation and pride and a desire to see it rebuilt. when i realized how i felt about WTC i applied it to how i should feel about moshiach and bayis shlishi. it works. it gives me a perspective of what it means to have something great destroyed and then rebuilt. stuff like that happens all teh time. ive had some who disagreed with this method, but it works for me so hey…there you go.