The Kindlings Muse

The theme for KindlingsFest 2013 was “Reimagining The Good Life." Taking the cue from a question in Esquire Magazine, “What I've Learned," throughout the week various Kindlings Heart Alum and friends of The Kindlings gave vignettes of their experience with The Good Life - what they have learned, what they thought it was and how that changed, what it means now in this place in their life as opposed to the younger days. Singer/Songwriter Bob Bennett gives a humorous, sincere breakdown of What I've Learned About the Good Life So Far.

"All growth requires the use of the imagination." Each morning of KindlingsFest began with a devotional led by Dr. Jerry Root - who earned his Ph.D. at British Open University. Thesis: C. S. Lewis and the Problem of Evil: A Pervasive Theme. He is co-editor of the classic: The Quotable Lewis.  Starting with the value of the imagination in all endeavors Jerry touches on C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, John Polkinghorn, Charles Williams and more as he invites us to consider that one's imagination can lose its sense of wonder, replacing it with a swollen sense of self, unravelling our world. The Poverty of Soul opens one to all the resources of heaven.

“This is not about you, this is YOU! If you can grab hold of that idea that when you look at what you've done in your life that you have enjoyed, believe you've done well... that's YOU." “The Shape of Your Soul; The Seeds of Your Destiny."  - For more than 45 years, Art Miller, author of "The Truth about You"  has been seeking to influence the thinking of those who lead, manage, and influence our society's foundational institutions toward the conviction that accessing and productively utilizing the giftedness with which individuals have been endowed is the only way to achieve organizational and personal objectives, as well as to solve the besetting problems of education, work, religion, and the family. In this podcast recorded live at KindlingsFest 2013, as we “Reimagined The Good Life," Art challenges you to re-examine how you live your life and what is it you were made to do from the day you were born. How are you living in and out of the talents you've been created with and how are you missing The Good Life when you choose not to. The following evening Art sat down with Dick Staub, Nigel Goodwin, and Don Kiehl to talk about how this plays out into a person's life. Listen to "A Conversation with Art Miller" to hear more...  

KindlingsFest 2013 attempted to answer the timeless question posed by Aristotle, “What is the Good Life?" Dick Staub began the week with a look at where we've come from, what hasn't worked, where we are going and offers an answer to Aristotle in that the Good Life is a Godward Life. His first time speaking at KindlingsFest after years of hosting it, Dick Staub critiques how  our culture, and Christianity, has failed to live out the Good Life, how we are in one of  the most spiritually hungry ages in history. Dick offers a candid response with lessons from his own life, that inevitably asks: What talents and gifts has God invested in you? What are you doing with them? How are you becoming fully human, and thus fully the person God made you to be?  

In this Kindlings Muse Live from KindlingsFest 2013 show, Dick Staub sits down with Nigel Goodwin, Art Miller, and Don Kiehl to look at the unique elements that shape what we were created to do with our lives. Art uses Motivated Abilities Patterns to help people to discover what they are gifted to do. To give some context how the Motivated Abilities Pattern works in a life, they walk through Dick Staub's profile. To follow along with the conversation, view the PDF for Dick's Motivated Abilities Pattern.   For more than 45 years, Art Miller, author of "The Truth about You" has been seeking to influence the thinking of those who lead, manage, and influence our society's foundational institutions toward the conviction that accessing and productively utilizing the giftedness with which individuals have been endowed is the only way to achieve organizational and personal objectives, as well as to solve the besetting problems of education, work, religion, and the family.    

KindlingsFest is a celebration of art and ideas and where they intersect with the spiritual.  This years Kindlings Fest on Orcas Island asked, “Can Crabbed age and youth live together?" Through film, talks, panel discussions, art, music and casual conversations we explored what it is that keeps generations apart and what can bring them together. Dr. Jeff Keuss  stepped into the conversation with a talk titled “The Great Divide," a look at the significant, unintimate space between the generations in faith communities. What is the future of faith communities? Is it a movement from vulnerability to intimacy, from accumulation to relinquishment, from information exchange to memory sharing, from choice to chosen-ness?   **Get access to all our past Kindlings Fest podcast by becoming a Kindlings Associate Today!

Stephen King might be known for his horror novels but his work goes deeper and broader than a single genre. With such books as Joyland, The Stand, The Green Mile, and The Shawshank Redemptioon and The Dark Tower series he gives a stark presentation of good vs. evil, right and wrong, and redemption. Listen as Host Jennie Spohr and panel Dr. Jeff Keuss, Suzanne Wolf, and New York Times Best Selling Thriller Author Michael Gruber discuss, before a live audience, these aspects and more in the works of Stephen King.

What is in today's culture that makes a man? How does our culture understand masculinity? How is it portrayed in the increase of Comic Book hero and Action films? Is it accurate? Overzealous? Absurd? All the above? Host Jennie Spohr, Dr. Jeff Keuss, Jeffrey Overstreet, and Dr. Christine Chaney dig into the action films that shape our understanding of Masculinity.

KindlingsFest 2010 explored theme of “Friends for the Journey" with Luci Shaw, Dr. Hal Poe, Dr. Jeff Keuss, Nigel Goodwin, Dr. Jerry Root, Jeff Johnson, and artists-in-residence Kathy Hastings, Bob Bennett and Corrie Moore. In this podcasts Luci Shaw shares stories and reflections on her friendship with Madeleine L'Engle and the book they wrote Friends for the Journey.   This is just a glimpse of KindlingsFest. Come join us this summer as we “Re-imagine The Good Life." Register now! 

Before Dallas Willard's bestselling "The Divine Conspiracy," he wrote a simple book titled, "In Search of Guidance, Developing a Conversational Relationship With God," in which he argued that everyday people can receive guidance from God. This Dick Staub Interview is from 1993 when the book first came out and showcases Dallas Willard's incisive, logical approach applied to basic issues in the Christian life.     You can find the rest of this interview in these 3 parts: Part 2,  Part 3,  Part 4 If you liked this interview consider making a donation and become a Kindling. Find out more!

Are you working more and enjoying life less? In the 90's Juliet Schor wrote a book titled "The Overworked American" arguing among other things that the typical American worker puts in nine weeks more on the job than his or her European counterpart. A recent report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research argues that the US lags behind all the other industrialized countries in terms of vacation time for their workers while about one fourth have no vacation time at all. Tonight Dick Staub hosts a discussion with documentary filmmaker John De Graaf, co-author of the best-selling book AFFLUENZA, and Executive Director of the Take Back Your Time campaign. We are also joined by Dr. Rob McKenna, Chair of the Department of Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Seattle Pacific University and Jennie Spohr, Producer of The Kindlings Muse.

This years WinterFest theme was: My Spiritual Journey (So Far), Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis. In the third of four talks, author Lauren Winner, talks about the space after the darkness, the moving forward, looking for the hiddenness of God and rethinking your idea of the God you are looking for. “When kids play hide and seek they usually hide in the same spot, over and over... a characteristic of God is his hiddenness." Lauren is the author of numerous books, including Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Discipline, Girl Meets God: A Memoir, Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity. She has appeared on PBS’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and has written for The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, Publishers Weekly, Books and Culture, and Christianity Today. Winner has degrees from Duke, Columbia, and Cambridge universities, and holds a Ph.D. in history. Lauren teaches at Duke Divinity School, and lives in Durham, North Carolina. When she’s home, you can usually find her curled up, on her couch or screen porch, with a good novel. If this made you wish you were there, you can be...Join us for Kindlings Fest this summer

Why are so many Americans, if not the rest of the world, so captivated about the ongoing ups and downs of a home of English Nobility adjusting to the Modern World? Is it the dissolving of class barriers? Or the humanity we find in every character from the Lord of the estate to the begging, single mom/former chamber maid? What does Downton say about our own humanity and culture? Join the conversation with host Jennie Spohr, and a panel that includes Dr. Jeff Keuss,  Dr. Christine Chaney, Bill Hogg and Suzanne Wolfe. If you can't make our Monday shows, then consider joining us for Kindlings Fest this summer on Orcas Island

Out of the many films reviewed in this series, “There Will Come A Day" is given the highest ratings by our three critics, Dick Staub, Josh Staub (Director of Look and Light at Disney Animation) and Jason Valles (Founder, Third Floor Inc.). An Italian Film that follows Augusta, a young Italian woman, as she moves from a personal criss into an exploration for faith and meaning in a world far from her own.

This years WinterFest theme was: My Spiritual Journey (So Far), Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis. In the second of four talks author Lauren Winner explores the journey into the darkness and hitting the wall in a spiritual journey. What happens when things seem to fall apart and God appears absent?  Lauren reads from her latests book Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis, and candidly shares her experience into God's silence and absence. Lauren is the author of numerous books, including Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Discipline, Girl Meets God: A Memoir, Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity. She has appeared on PBS’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and has written for The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, Publishers Weekly, Books and Culture, and Christianity Today. Winner has degrees from Duke, Columbia, and Cambridge universities, and holds a Ph.D. in history. Lauren teaches at Duke Divinity School, and lives in Durham, North Carolina. When she’s home, you can usually find her curled up, on her couch or screen porch, with a good novel. If this made you wish you were there, you can be...Join us for Kindlings Fest this summer