Today, when writing a book of the Rebbe's thoughts, there are two subjects that have to be mentioned: Geulah and Refuah.

There isn't a time when the Rebbe speaks that he does not mention the geulah. This is the purpose for which HaShem created the world.

What is the geulah all about? How will it be different from life today? Today, as we look around us, we see physical things. We know that just like we have a neshamah in our bodies, everything in the world has a spark of HaShem within it. But we don't see it, and sometimes, we have to work very hard to remember that it's there.

When the geulah comes, this is going to change. We will see the sparks of HaShem that exist all over and we won't even have to look hard to see them.

The prophet Yeshayahu tells us that in the time of the geulah, "The world will be filled with the knowledge of HaShem as the waters cover up the ocean bed."

Why does Yeshayahu speak about the ocean? Around us, we can see people, cars, buildings, trees, and many other things. That's what our world is made up of. When we look at the ocean, it's different. There's a whole underwater world there too, with many fish and plants. But when we look at the ocean, we don't see them. All we see is the water.

That's what the geulah is going to be like. Everything that exists now will be there, but wherever we go, whatever we look at, we will see HaShem's holiness.

The geulah is not a faraway promise. It's very, very close. And we can even have a taste of it now.

When Mommy bakes a cake, we often ask to lick the batter. We like to taste the cake even before it's baked. Our Sages tells us that we should have a bit of the Shabbos food on Friday so that we have an early taste of Shabbos.

The time we are in now is like Friday afternoon, right before Shabbos. And we can get an early taste of Mashiach and the geulah, now.

How can we get this taste? We should study about Mashiach and the geulah and share what we've learned with others. This will help us live with the idea of Mashiach and make it real.

The more people think about Mashiach, the faster he will come. Mashiach is waiting to come. What we have to do is make ourselves and everyone around us ready for him.

(Adapted from the Hadran on the Mishneh Torah, 5745, and Sichos Shabbos Parshas Vayeitzei, 5752)