Returning our focus to HaShem is as much an act of teshuva as is following the R’M’B’M’s given prescription (Hilchos teshuva), though their contexts can appear outwardly different.

Think of the times you have spent on a date, or out with your fiancee, maybe your spouse, and you are engaged with your cell phone. When you realize your action’s potential implication and cease the the activity (assuming they have not already rebuked you or broken off from you) and return your attention, your focus, to this significant other, that, today, is a great cause for celebration! Imagine how they must feel, the warmth and intimacy shared, when you’ve set aside your distractions for them.

There is an idea that everything we experience here is a kind of mirror image or echo from G-d’s Torah on high and that would include all the various types of relationships and feelings we experience in this world ranging from the love of spouses, the love of immediate family, extended family, neighbors, friends, etc.. Those relationships are a diverse array, revealing to us practically, facets of how HaShem relates to us and how we may relate to G-d. In truth, G-d’s great love for us extends far beyond human relationships including all of the good we receive from the effects of gravity to the limiting of sensory responses within narrow portions of any given spectrum, enabling us to discern.

The generally accepted path to this heightened receptivity, is through first mastering all of the Torah, l’shma, and doing so in a manner that effects your person, necessarily through yirah shemayim (Proverbs 9:10), and, to achieve that, humility (Proverbs 22:4).

Honest observations will show us there are always unknown x factors because we are dealing with an infinite palate of possibilities so the manner in which our Torah and our sages instructions can be employed will always vary and be unique, hence lacking humility, real discernment and expression is impossible.

It is a slim area on the spectrum to be honed in on in order to avoid being distracted from realizing that G-d’s love is REAL, no less than that we share for our loved ones and that the Abishter’s presence isn’t concealed necessarily, it is just too profound and intimate to be conceived of outside the directions given us in our holy texts. None the less, with diligent consideration and follow through, G-d’s love is vital, ever present, and yes, we can relate to HaShem’s presence as readily and with as much fervor as we do our human counterparts. Our inability or reluctance to do so is more suggestive of a lack of proper instruction and preparation than simply considering faith as an intellectual enquiry. However, since opinions do not require physical exertion, we might confuse our lack of effort in understanding deep matters as legitimate questions on hard to grapple with topics. 

The mitzvah to love G-d may first goad us toward this deeper understanding, since it begins with a command to pursue a relationship which may not have been developed, and then gird our resolve to retain and strengthen it as we progress and see more clearly what our roles can be in this wondrous space.

That is really no different than developing and maintaining a love for another individual. That love can waiver for a variety of reasons, but when it is valued in the proper context, and focused with substance, the mature and consistent effort required to strengthen in its shared resolve, can keep focused, the heart’s wants, on the given goals the deeper portions of our minds and souls desire for eternity.