For Gen Xers like me, childhood featured movies like The Goonies and Indiana Jones, and that made a particular moment at last week’s Academy Awards hit our nostalgia hard. Ke Huy Quan, who played Data in Goonies and Short Round in Indiana Jones, won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Everything Everywhere All at Once. 

When he was announced, Ke tearfully kissed his wife, hugged his co-stars, and launched into one of the most enthusiastic and sincere speeches, yelling out “Mom, I just won an Oscar!!!” and “This is the American dream!” and thanking his wife of 20 years.  

His joy and gratitude were absolutely infectious and point to something deeper than mere nostalgia. This is an example of what Os Guinness calls “signals of transcendence,” reminders that there’s more to this world than just power, conflict, and survival. Get a copy of Os’s new book with a gift of any amount to the Colson Center this month.