{"id":94404,"date":"2026-09-03T09:57:05","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T14:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spiritualsparks.beehiiv.com\/p\/spiritual-sparks-you-never-know"},"modified":"2026-09-03T09:57:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T14:57:05","slug":"spiritual-sparks-you-never-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/spiritual-sparks-you-never-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Spiritual Sparks: You Never Know!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n    <div class='beehiiv'><style>\n  .bh__table, .bh__table_header, .bh__table_cell { border: 1px solid #C0C0C0; }\n  .bh__table_cell { padding: 5px; background-color: #FFFFFF; }\n  .bh__table_cell p { color: #2D2D2D; font-family: 'Helvetica',Arial,sans-serif !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; }\n  .bh__table_header { padding: 5px; background-color:#F1F1F1; }\n  .bh__table_header p { color: #2A2A2A; font-family:'Trebuchet MS','Lucida Grande',Tahoma,sans-serif !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; }\n<\/style><div class='beehiiv__body'><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\"><i>Leave room for the improbable<\/i><\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">Four decades ago, two baby girls were born in India and adopted by different families in the Netherlands. They grew up only hours apart, unaware of each other&#39;s existence.<\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">Then, as teenagers, Meena and Minal happened to attend the same event for adoptees. Friends noticed their uncanny resemblance. The girls saw it, too -- the same eyes, the same nose -- and felt an immediate connection.<\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">They exchanged contact information and kept in touch for a while, but eventually life intervened. They lost contact, started families, and nearly three decades passed. Then, separately, both women took DNA heritage tests.<\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\"><i>What did the tests reveal?<\/i><\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">\u2728<b>3 Ideas<\/b><\/p><ol start=\"1\"><li><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\"><b>Don\u2019t confuse unlikely with impossible <\/b><\/p><\/li><\/ol><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">We\u2019ve all experienced things that once seemed extraordinarily improbable. Then, an opportunity appears from nowhere. Badly needed support arrives unexpectedly. A chance encounter becomes one of the most important relationships in our lives. <\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">They remind us that life contains possibilities beyond those we can presently see. <b>The point isn\u2019t that these things will happen. It\u2019s that our soul knows that they can.<\/b>\u00a0<\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">Recognizing that the future may hold more than we can presently imagine opens us to wonder, surprise, and possibility. <\/p><ol start=\"2\"><li><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\"><b>We know less than we think <\/b><\/p><\/li><\/ol><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">We tend to make predictions based on what we see. Nothing has changed in years, so nothing will. There\u2019s no apparent path forward, so we conclude there isn\u2019t one.<\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">But predictions have a way of hardening into certainties. <b>\u201cI don\u2019t see how\u201d isn\u2019t the same thing as \u201cIt can\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/b><\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">Classic wisdom reminds us that even when circumstances appear final, possibilities may remain hidden from view.<\/p><ol start=\"3\"><li><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\"><b>You never know what you\u2019re capable of<\/b><\/p><\/li><\/ol><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">We often make predictions about ourselves. <i>I\u2019m too old. I\u2019ve never been good at that. That\u2019s just not who I am.<\/i> What sounds like facts may actually be predictions. <\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\"><b>We underestimate not only what life can bring us. We underestimate what life can bring out of us.<\/b>\u00a0<\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">Intelligent optimism means leaving room to discover what we may be capable of -- not insisting we can accomplish anything. The soul is always capable of growth. <\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\"><span style=\"color:#d0e0e3;\">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<\/span><\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">\ud83d\udcdc<b>2 Quotes<\/b><\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">\u201cThe race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.\u201d <br>\u2014 <i>Ecclesiastes 9:11<\/i><\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">\u201cListen to the mustn\u2019s, child. Listen to the\u2026won\u2019ts\u2026then listen close to me\u2026Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.\u201d <br>\u2014 <i>Shel Silverstein <\/i><\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\"><span style=\"color:#d0e0e3;\">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<\/span><\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">\u2753<b>1 Question<\/b><\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">Is there a relationship in your life you\u2019ve accepted as it is, even though you wish it could be warmer or closer? <\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\"><span style=\"color:#d0e0e3;\">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<\/span><\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">The DNA tests revealed something extraordinary: there was a 100% probability that Meena and Minal were sisters. The two women who had met by chance as teenagers, grown up only hours apart, and then lost touch for nearly three decades were full biological sisters. <\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">And there was one more remarkable piece to the story. When they first met as teenagers, Meena and Minal had talked about how wonderful it would be if they were sisters. <\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">Twenty-eight years later, they discovered they were. <b>You never know!<\/b>\u00a0<\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">Until next time,<br>Wishing you a week of discovering -- and pursuing -- unexpected possibilities,<\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\"><b>Rabbi Ze&#39;ev Smason<\/b><\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">P.S. What have you accomplished in life that your 20-year-old self wouldn\u2019t have believed was probable -- or even possible? I\u2019d love to hear about it. <\/p><p class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\">P.P.S. Have you read <i>Spiritual Sparks: A Reader<\/i>? I\u2019d be grateful if you\u2019d consider leaving a brief review on Amazon. Reviews help others discover the book -- and perhaps find a little more meaning, purpose, and joy in their lives. \u2014&gt; <b><a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/review\/create-review\/?ie=UTF8&channel=glance-detail&asin=B0H2R2Q94Z&utm_source=spiritualsparks.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=spiritual-sparks-you-never-know\"  rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Amazon<\/a><\/b>\u00a0<\/p><\/div><div class='beehiiv__footer'><br class='beehiiv__footer__break'><hr class='beehiiv__footer__line'><a  class=\"beehiiv__footer_link\" style=\"text-align: center;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beehiiv.com\/powered-by?publication_logo=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.beehiiv.com%2Fcdn-cgi%2Fimage%2Ffit%3Dscale-down%2Cformat%3Dauto%2Conerror%3Dredirect%2Cquality%3D80%2Fuploads%2Fpublication%2Flogo%2F3f159f9b-5409-4503-a8c8-75c1d2b61224%2Fspiritual_sparks__1_.png%3Fv%3D1788447457&publication_name=Spiritual+Sparks&utm_campaign=5d269778-ffce-4734-aa83-f41d1ff2ed1e&utm_medium=post_rss&utm_source=spiritual_sparks\">Powered by beehiiv<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n  ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leave room for the improbable<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14776],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94404"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94404"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94405,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94404\/revisions\/94405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}