Over the past year, I have noticed a growing sense of connection, of clarity and hope in my life. I’ve often wondered if my sense of the Divine’s influence in those experiences is genuine or wishful thinking. And at the same time, I’ve thought paradoxically it might be both. As I struggle with life’s questions and embrace the opportunities to explore and understand them, I’ve wondered where creative ideas and a sense of wholeness come from, even as I stumble and pick myself up, again and again. This weekend I found the beginning of an answer.

When I read the Torah portion on the Sabbath, I also read a couple of commentaries. My favorite one is Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, who has written on four of the Five Books of Moses (known as the Chumash); I am reading his commentary on Genesis. He writes with such love and clarity on Judaism, that this week’s commentary stood out for me, because he addressed the seeming conflict between our understanding of divine providence (G-d’s influence on our lives) and free will. He points to the paradoxical question, how can G-d intervene in our lives if we have free will? He explains it with the following:

The apparent paradox arises because of the nature of time. We live in Time. G-d lives beyond it. Different time perspectives allow for different levels of knowledge. An analogy: imagine going to see a soccer match. While the match is in progress, you are on the edge of your seat. You do not know—no one knows—what is going to happen next. Now imagine watching a recording of the same match on television later that night—you know exactly what is going to happen.