In answer to this question the Wesleyan quadrilateral comes to mind – Scripture, tradition, experience, and reason. I find light at the end of the tunnel because (1) Scripture encourages me to do so; because (2) it's an honored tradition in the family of man; because (3) experience has taught me that while not sufficient in itself, hope is a necessary condition for progress; because (4) reason councils that with creativity, flexibility, and hope problems can be surmounted or effectively skirted in the march forward. That is, a broader hope sometimes requires that finite tunnels be abandoned...the hard lesson is that not all tunnels merit our persistence and limited mortal resources. It can be plainly indicated that fully traversing each and every tunnel is not in the divine will of God so much as in the towering ego of man.
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