The Kindlings Muse

The Kindlings Muse The Kindlings is a movement inspired by C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. We think such discourse should be intelligent, imaginative and hospitable. What Do You Do?

In 1999 Dick & some friends launched The Kindlings, a relational movement seeking to rekindle the spiritual, intellectual and artistic legacy of Christians in culture by producing The Kindlings Muse podcasts, Kindlings Hearth Retreats and KindlingsFest. We are an intergenerational, grassroots, relational movement of thoughtful creatives for whom God is of central importance; who together with othe

rs desire to rekindle our spiritual, intellectual and creative legacy in culture by helping each other become the fullest expression of who God created us to be. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Dorothy Sayers and a diverse group of gadflies and friends called The Inklings, who met in an Oxford pub each week for lively conversation and friendly disputation. Our aim is to rekindle the spiritual, intellectual and creative legacy of Christians in culture. We are a place where thoughtful creatives for whom God is of central importance can explore ideas that matter in contemporary life together through our live events, podcasts, festival events and artist retreats. We serve thoughtful creatives for whom God is of central importance by facilitating conversations, connecting and convening them online and at local events. Explore the site, listen to a show, come to a live event or festival.

New at www.dickstaub.com this week. I recommend all three, but composer/audio editor extraordinaire Marty O’DonnellLOVES...
10/27/2024

New at www.dickstaub.com this week. I recommend all three, but composer/audio editor extraordinaire Marty O’DonnellLOVES the Lovell interview and especially recommends it. His wife though is partial to the St.Aub interview (she edited it!)

I am always moved and personally challenged by stories of Christian martyrs. The story of Euphemia is noteworthy becaus...
09/16/2024

I am always moved and personally challenged by stories of Christian martyrs. The story of Euphemia is noteworthy because she was only a young teenager yet stood firm in her commitment of faith. Because martyrdom is almost unheard of in the US, Christians here think it is a thing of the past, but throughout Christian history, across all traditions of Christianity, and in every part of the world, some 70 million Christians have been murdered for their faith and hence are called martyrs. Half of these martyrdoms were in the 20th century. Ten of Jesus twelve disciples died a martyr’s death. Something to think about in today’s easy, breezy, American Christianity lite.

Sometimes the news of the world seems so dark, I strain to see the light. Then I remember these words from Tolkien, who ...
09/09/2024

Sometimes the news of the world seems so dark, I strain to see the light. Then I remember these words from Tolkien, who got them from Jesus and other wise spiritual teachers through the centuries. Want to keep darkness at bay? Commit an act of kindness and love, to a stranger, to a friend, to an enemy, to a family member.

It’s always an honor to have your music played on John Diliberto’s nationally syndicated Echoes show. But to be featured...
09/02/2024

It’s always an honor to have your music played on John Diliberto’s nationally syndicated Echoes show. But to be featured again as the ‘CD of the Month’ is the best! You can read John’s wonderful review below. SPINNING ON A COSMIC DIME releases on all music services this coming Friday (09-06-24). If you haven’t heard it yet, give it spin sometime and let us know what you think. And to all of you who have supported the prerelease effort on Bandcamp, a real heartfelt thanks from both Phil and myself.

I'm always a little skeptical of music masquerading as tone poems, citing some vast vista like the Grand Canyon or the Himalayas or the Taj Mahal that is inspiring the music. I'm sure that's true for many, but most instrumental artists tell me the titles come after the event of recording. Once I got

Watch the full length music video of the title track from the new album.
08/29/2024

Watch the full length music video of the title track from the new album.

From the album, SPINNING ON A COSMIC DIMEMusic written, performed & produced by Jeff Johnson & Phil Keaggy℗ 2024 Ark Records / ArkMusic.com© 2024 Sola Script...

SPINNING ON A COSMIC DIME releases exclusively on Bandcamp tomorrow (https://jeffjohnsonarkmusic.bandcamp.com/album/spin...
08/22/2024

SPINNING ON A COSMIC DIME releases exclusively on Bandcamp tomorrow (https://jeffjohnsonarkmusic.bandcamp.com/album/spinning-on-a-cosmic-dime) and on all other music service sites on 9/6/24. The title for Phil’s and my new album comes from a moment a year and a half ago when my family found itself together at Seattle Children’s Hospital where my two year old granddaughter had been admitted for what turned out to be a delicate brain surgery. The procedure was successfully completed and after a week recovering with the good and gifted people at Children’s, our granddaughter came home.

I was speaking to a friend updating them on this situation when I said, “sometimes our lives just seem like we’re spinning around on a cosmic dime.” In other words, life is fragile and most of the time we have no sense of it until something like this turns our lives upside down.

Phil and I don’t physically work together in a studio when we record our music. He lives in Nashville and I live on Camano Island. We send tracks back and forth to one another. It’s an unusual way to work but the process has served us well over the years. This will be our fifth studio album and on past projects we have often begun with a general concept that serves to be an inspirational “backdrop” to what we’re working on. Past concepts/inspirations have included the Texas Frio River, church caves in Cappadocia, Turkey and the Byzantine mosaics of Ravenna, Italy.

Yet this new music began happening so quickly that the only “concept” that I could think of to work with was the idea of “wonder.” Wonder, of course, isn’t a bad concept to have for any creative effort. You might even say that ALL creative inspiration begins with some sense of wonder! It was in the midst of recording the new music that this idea of “spinning on a cosmic dime” kept coming to my mind.

If we were to be honest with ourselves, life really is pretty precarious. And when you consider this “dime” of an earth spinning around a sun – one star of 100 billion stars in our own galaxy and 200 billion trillion in the entire universe – your life can feel pretty darn insignificant. Yet, wonder changes all of that because wonder is a way of looking at this vast creation and seeing things that make your life and everyone else’s life significant. Then, add the idea that God, the creator of the universe, became a man who dwelt among us and suddenly this spinning dime is like a cosmic carousel spinning around this big, beautiful universe!

Enjoy the new music,
Jeff

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