It is in part to avoid situations like Cowper's that Helm counsels "tentativeness" and "scepticism" in reading our lives for signs of providential direction. `As human beings," he notes, "we do not have sufficient data to make definitive judgments on the significance of the events in our lives." This is a truly useful reminder; as Helm notes, there are dangers both in finding too tidy a pattern in one's life and in thinking that one should be able to discern such neatness. But I grow concerned when Helm adds to his recommendation of "tentativeness" a counsel of "scepticism." Is this not going
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