“If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let'em go, because, man, they're gone.” --Jack Handey

If you don’t know who Jack Handey is then this post will begin as an exercise in semiotics. Jack Handey was a character (or was he?) on Saturday Night Live, popularized by Al Franken, who is now a United States Senator from Minnesota. Franken was on SNL for 10 seasons, comprised of 123 episodes over the following years: 1979–1980, 1986, and 1987–1995.

While Franken did this bit called “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey,” here is something that not everyone knows… Franken’s character was not a character at all. In fact, Jack Handey was a real person. Handey was a writer on SNL that actually wrote the deep thoughts Franken shared. They were actually Handey’s own quirky, funny thoughts, delivered under his actual name, by an actor -- Franken.

That’s funny. Sort of…

Why am I sharing this? Well, first of all it has been a while since I posted a new blog entry. Second, I thought I would share some of my journey since my last post, which involves experiences that have caused me to have some deep thoughts.

Recently I spent some time in Portland, Oregon as I began a new journey in my own life. I am now pursuing my doctorate at George Fox University, focusing on semiotics and future studies. What the heck is semiotics and future studies? Glad you asked…

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. The word “semiotics” comes from the Greek word semeiotikos, which means simply, “an interpreter of signs” (This Means This, This Means That, Hall, p.5). The twist, for my study in semiotics, can be described as “Jesus Semiotics” – studying and watching what Jesus is doing in the world. Future studies relates to the study of future cultural trends.

I have to say, I am now an official Portland, Oregon lover -- awesome weather, great culture, wonderful people! Maybe part of what I took away from Portland was the connection with my cohort and those associated with the program (check it out here). There are 13 of us on this new journey together, and they all already feel like family. We are exploring and walking together under our lead mentor, Leonard Sweet (one of his latest books, So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church is a must read!). Though I have read several of his books, I now have a deeper appreciation for Len. He is a true scholar, deep thinker, and one who is challenging me (and many others) to dig deeper and do better.

As I have started to get in stride on this new leg of my journey, I have begun to look at things in a whole different way -- "cross-eyed” so that things can go a bit fuzzy. In order to “see” what Jesus is doing in the world, we have to be willing to look from a different point of view. As Len explains, “We see with Jesus eyes” -- to look at everything from the cross… looking OUT from the cross, not looking at the cross. This is a whole different perspective.

I am really excited about this new season of my life, where God is leading, and what the next three years of this program will bring in relation to the growth and vision of FaithWalk. Even so, semiotics is very clunky for me right now. I feel like I have had some strange “Jack Handey” moments, where I want to shake my head and then look around to see if anyone noticed my misread.

You know the feeling… Like when you drop your keys into a river of hot molten lava and then start to reach for them without thinking?