The Not-Quite-Right Reverend

Did you know, in addition to being a husband, father, writer, music teacher, online college student, luthier of jugband instruments, and classic car enthusiast, I am also an ordained minister?

I received my ordination through the Universal Life Church Monastery in 2010. You can learn more about the church here: https://www.themonastery.org/aboutUs . A variety of celebrities are also ULC ministers, including late night talk show hosts, famous authors, and all four of the Beatles. A partial list can be found here: https://www.universallifechurchministers.org/

Like most of the 20 million people who have been ordained by the ULC, or in my case the ULC Monastery (an offshoot of the original ULC), I wanted to be able to perform wedding ceremonies for friends. So far, I have officiated twenty weddings for friends and friends of friends. I've also had the honor of legally uniting three same-sex couples and two mixed-race couples as well.

My ministry is more than just weddings, however. I believe my true calling is my ability to bring joy to the world. Through writing, teaching, making music, and performing the occasional wedding, I try to bring people a little happiness. Last week, there was a lot of happiness happening in Mister Naughton's Neighborhood.

Last Tuesday, my second graders at Southern Boone Primary School performed the music of my hero Mister Rogers, himself an ordained minister and mentor to children. Both performances were well received by the parents, grandparents, and teachers in attendance. As proud of the kids as their families no doubt were, no one was more proud of them than I was.

Singing songs about accepting and loving people exactly as they are, 150 second graders spread Fred Rogers' message that each of us is special and deserving of love. I had tears in my eyes more than once as I watched my students perform the songs they had worked hard to learn over the last two months.

Tears of pure joy.

While it is true that I am an atheist, meaning that I do not believe in any god or holy spirit, I do believe in the power of the human spirit. Last Tuesday, I witnessed that spirit in the eyes and voices of my students as they sang life-affirming songs including "Many Ways to Say I Love You": https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=DqSBqfDgOsQ&feature=emb_logo
and "It's You I like": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BZlyxS37Kk&t=7s . I highly recommend clicking on the links to see the power of the originals for yourself.

With the second grade concerts behind me, I now turn my focus toward preparing for next month's kindergarten holiday concerts. You can rest assured that Mister Naughton will be doing his level best to bring even more joy to the world that day.

It is never my intention to brag about the good I do for others. I only hope to inspire you to do good deeds and spread joy as well. That's a minister's job, I think.

With that thought in mind, I would like to encourage you to consider adoption if you’re thinking about adding to your family. November is National Adoption Month, and also the month in which Bethany and I adopted our son Truman 11 years ago. A couple years later, we adopted our daughter Tiana, completing our goofy, loving family. There are many more kids out there waiting for a family right now.

What will you do to spread some joy today?

A Short Story

I’m currently taking an online course about short stories as a prerequisite for my master’s in education program. About halfway through the course, it’s going pretty well. I’ve passed 47 quizzes so far, with 52 to go (one for every chapter). I’ll have to write two papers and take a final, too. After that, I’ll still have 4 more prerequisites to take before I can be officially accepted into my 24-course master’s program.

Long story, short: it is really hard to see a light at the end of this long, long tunnel.

On a related note, studying the art of the short story has renewed my love of short-form writing. I’m really starting to miss writing my weekly column for the newspaper. Maybe a collection of short stories is in my future.

Teacher? Author? Columnist? Crazy person?

Crazy person.

What a Day

What a day. After backing my truck into a tree during a torrential downpour this morning, my day could only get better. And it did.

Much better.

I taught seven classes today, nearly 130 students in all. We sang songs from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, The Sound of Music, and several Halloween songs. We also danced. A lot. I may have also unleashed a blood-curdling witch's cackle that sent kids scrambling for cover a time or two. Or seven.

After school, I led a Musician Badge-earning presentation for a group of Girl Scouts. Part one of the lesson was about how music is made. First, we watched video clips of performers stomping and clapping to make music, then the girls and I stood in a circle and tried creating our own rhythms. Next, we watched a clip of a drum line performing an elaborate routine that was a great example of making music with instruments. Then we sat in a drum circle and jammed together. After that, we watched Julie Andrews sing "Do-Re-Mi" to learn about pitch and making music with our voices, and then the girls and I sang the song.

During part two of the lesson, we learned about music from around the world. We watched a video clip of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" as an example from Europe, a performance by an ensemble performing traditional Chinese music, and a song by a Cuban jazz band. Then we watched clips of modern American music including pop, country, and rock.

Finally, I showed the girls a collection of my homemade instruments including cigar box guitars, percussion instruments, a shoe box violin, a diddley bow, and my garden trellis harp. I talked about how I made them and demonstrated how to play them. Then, all the girls got to play two instruments before we ran out of time.

The smiles on the girls' faces, and their sincere thanks, made me all but forget about the rough start to my day--until I walked outside and took a closer look at my truck's rear bumper.

It was just a another day in the life of Travis Naughton--a life that is never boring. Some days are frustrating. Others are maddening. A few are positively amazing. And every now and then, a day can be all of those things and more.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

Notes From the Music Room

Armed with a thick binder, chock-full of state learning standards, I have created my own curriculum for teaching music to my students at the Primary School this year. And I have to say that so far, things are going even better than I had hoped.

My overall approach is to divide each 45-minute class period into at least three parts. The first part always involves singing. The second usually involves playing or learning about instruments. And the third part typically involves watching videos of live musical performances and/or dancing to musical selections.

Through the first six weeks of school, students in kindergarten, first, and second grades have made music with their hands and feet, with plastic tubes called “Boomwhackers” that make a musical note when they strike the ground, and with drums. They’ve also been able to see and hear a violin, a trumpet, a trombone, and a homemade harp that I brought from home.

While learning about these and other instruments, the kids have watched video clips of African drums, baroque music, classical music, and music from Japan, China, and India. They’ve listened to masterpieces from Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Wagner, Beethoven and a fantastic jazz recording by my good friend Matt Kane, an incredibly talented percussionist.

While listening to these great works and playing various instruments, the kids have learned about musical concepts such as rhythm, tempo, pitch, and dynamics. Starting tomorrow, they will get the opportunity to show off what they have learned so far. As an ensemble, they will be playing instruments such as xylophones, drums, and other assorted rhythm instruments.

The school’s first assembly of the year took place last Friday, and after weeks of rehearsing our school song, the kids finally got their chance to shine. And shine they did. Several teachers later told me that it was the best performance of the school song they had ever heard. I was extremely proud of my kids, and they were pretty proud of themselves, too.

My second graders have also been hard at work learning five songs for their concert in November. They are singing the music of Mister Rogers, including a version of “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” that I wrote with lyrics about the Primary School.

In the coming days, weeks, and months, we will sing holiday songs, patriotic songs, and more Mister Rogers songs. We will learn about melody and harmony, notation, and composition. We will listen to examples of blues, jazz, country, rock, soul, reggae, R & B, zydeco, disco, funk, hard rock, alternative, and many other genres covering the history of music in America and other parts of the world. We will also learn about (and play) homemade and conventional instruments.

Kindergartners will prepare for their winter concert, first graders will rehearse for their spring musical, and everyone will continue to sing, dance, play instruments, and have a whole lot of fun, all the way through to the end of the school year.

While all of this is going on, I’ll also be spending my evenings and weekends working towards earning a master’s degree in education. Eventually, I hope to add a music certification to my credentials so that I can teach music permanently.

In the meantime, I plan on enjoying every single day of this school year. It is the opportunity of a lifetime to be able to share my love of music with 460 of my closest friends, and I don’t want to waste a minute of it worrying about the future.

Back to Blogging

I wrote well over 400 columns for the Boone County Journal in the last eight years. Most focused on the communities of Ashland, Hartsburg, and the rest of rural Southern Boone County. A typical Travis Naughton opinion piece might include stories about kids, teaching, music, or hot rods. I wrote several stories that called attention to local heroes and people who deserve to be recognized for trying to make the world a better place. And yes, I did pen a political piece on occasion, but only rarely.

After my column about presidential politics was posted last week, Boone County Journal owner (and Ashland mayor) Gene Rhorer decided to send me a loud and clear message. When I opened this week's paper to look for my column in it's usual spot on page three, I saw a letter-to-the editor, written about me, in its place.

Over the years, countless readers have taken the time to write a letter in order to voice their displeasure with my opinions. I have always welcomed such discourse. After all, readers are entitled to their opinions, too. However, this week was the first time that my column had ever been replaced by a reader's letter.

I wrote a damned-good column for this week's paper, one that celebrated the achievements of young people. I spent over three hours writing and refining the piece, as I always do, in order for the writing to be as good as possible. Without a simple heads-up or any explanation whatsoever, publisher Gene Rhorer cut my column and instead ran a rambling letter that attacked me both as a writer and as a citizen.

Why? That's exactly what I asked Gene when we spoke on the phone later Wednesday evening. Before I could ask, though, Gene had a question for me. "Travis, will you admit that your column last week was pointed? Will you admit that?"

"Yes," I answered.

"So you admit it was politically a very pointed column?" Gene asked again.

"Yes, I've written several political columns over the years."

"Well I had a stack of 6 or 7 letters from readers after we ran your last column, and I had to choose one to put in the paper. You understand that?"

"Yes, I understand. I have no problem sharing the opinion page with readers' letters. I've done that lots of times. I'm just not sure why you replaced my column with the letter instead of running both."

"It's my dollar, Travis. I won't be chastised by you."

"I'm not chastising you, Gene. I'm just confused as to why you didn't give me the courtesy of a heads-up first. Something like, 'Travis, I'm not running your column this week. We'll have you back next week.' I shouldn't have had to open the paper to read my column and discover a letter attacking me in it's place."

"Don't chastise me," Gene repeated. "It's my dollar. I will run this paper the way I see fit."

"I'm not chastising you or telling you how to run your paper. I just think it would have been a decent thing to let me know what was going on before I had to find out that way."

"I will not be chastised, Travis. It's my dollar. Stop chastising me."

Exasperated, I said, "Gene, I'm glad you know the word 'chastised', but I'm just asking you a question. I'm not chastising anyone." (For the record, "chastise" is defined as "to rebuke or reprimand severely.") I said, "I'm just upset that after eight years of writing for the paper and serving this community, this is the way you decided to treat me. I think I deserve better than that."

Gene refused to give me a reason for why he opted not to run my column, and eventually it became clear that it had to do with my political opinions not aligning with his. After he made a remark stating, once again, that's it's his dollar and he'll run the paper the way he wants to run it, I said that it was obvious that he did not want me to continue writing for the Journal. "Run your paper however you want, Gene, because I won't be writing for you anymore."

Gene Rhorer, the mayor of Ashland and the owner of the town's only news outlet said these final words before hanging up the phone. "That's fine. This was a Democratic paper before, but it's a Republican paper now. It's better this way."

When Bruce Wallace owned the paper, he frequently printed opinion pieces written by Republicans Vicky Hartzler and Josh Hawley. Since the mayor purchased the paper, Hartzler, Sarah Walsh, and other Republicans have had a great deal of coverage. In one particular issue, an opinion piece written by Hartzler appreared on the front page of the paper in the "News" section. Impartial news coverage in Southern Boone County is officially dead.

Gene Rhorer has turned the Boone County Journal into a propaganda paper for the Republican party, and I am glad to have no further interest in his efforts to ruin what was once a respected, small-town news source.

So now you know how it all happened, and I have tried to be as accurate as possible in my recollection. I'm sad that my career at the paper had to end this way, but I'm comforted by the support and words of encouragement by my many readers and friends. I'll keep writing, so I hope you'll keep reading.

Peace.

Kids These Days (Are Pretty Great)

When Kristopher saw some kids at his school making fun of a fellow student named Michael for wearing the same clothes every day, he laughed right along with the bullies. Later at home, Kristopher thought about how his actions affected Michael, and he decided to try to make things right. Joined by his friend Antwain, the pair gave Michael a sincere apology and a bag full of brand-new clothes. The act of kindness not only affected young Michael’s life, but also millions of other people when a video clip of their gesture went viral.

Kids these days.

Olivia and Emma, both still years away from being old enough to drive, don’t waste their childhood by staring at their smartphones all day. Instead, they sing and play guitar, ukulele, banjo, bass, and fiddle, and they record albums of original music and perform across the Midwest, often opening for national acts. They’re known as the Burney Sisters, and you can catch them on stage at this weekend’s Roots ‘N’ Blues ‘N’ BBQ Festival in Columbia.

Kids these days.

When 21-year-old Satchel was trapped in the hotel where he works in Beaumont, Texas, during tropical storm Imelda last week, he was the only employee in the building. For the next 32 hours, he cheerfully assisted the 90 hotel guests who were also unable to leave due to the floodwaters outside. He and a few guests even braved the elements and distributed food to truckers who were stranded in their vehicles.

Kids these days.

Less than a year after addressing the Swedish parliament in an effort to voice the concerns of her generation about the climate crisis, 16-year-old Greta sailed across the Atlantic (refusing to fly in a fossil fuel burning jet) and testified before the United States House of Representatives. She also spearheaded a global School Strike for the Climate about which she said, “The symbolism of the climate strike is that if you adults don’t give a damn about my future, I won’t either.”

Kids these days.

Around 400 University of Missouri students gathered in support of the School Climate Strike last Friday at the campus’s famous Speakers Circle. Among those in the crowd was an 18-year-old from Ashland, Missouri, named Alex. With the blessings of a supportive professor, my son skipped class to attend the event. Alex, Greta, and millions of other young people know that the ever-worsening climate crisis is very real, and they know that the corporate greed and political corruption of the older generations are responsible for it.

Kids these days.

People my age and older have a terrible habit of disparaging today’s youth. They see ridiculous and dangerous viral videos of teens doing careless things and ask. “What’s the matter with kids these days?” I answer this question by reminding them that young people have always been impulsive and reckless. The only difference is that when we were young and doing dumb things, smartphones and the internet were not around to permanently memorialize our temporary stupidity.

Before you judge “kids these days”, try walking a mile in their tiny, light-up shoes. The students at my school, ages 5-8, frequently surprise me with their ability to thrive in an increasingly scary world. You may think that today’s children are just a bunch of YouTube-addicted and entitled brats without a care in the world, but you’ve never had to look a roomful of them in their big, tear-filled eyes while having a class discussion about what to do in the event that an active shooter breaks into their school and tries to kill them.

   

Kids these days are more informed, more empathetic, more engaged, and under more emotional stress than young people were in any previous generation. I interact with my students and my three teenagers every day. I know how they think and what they think about. Today’s young people deserve much more credit than they receive for their positivity, strength, kindness, and resilience. They deserve to hear the grown-ups in their lives say, “I’m proud of you.”

Maybe the better question would be, “What’s the matter with adults these days?”

New Book Announcement

My newest book, “It’s All Chicken and Booze” is available now on Amazon!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s//ref=mw_dp_a_s?ie=UTF8&i=books&k=Travis+A.+Naughton