Archived Events
How Could So Many Murder
So Many?
Occurred: April 10, 2011
Location: Unitarian Fellowship, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Event: Public workshop
Occurred: April 3, 2011
Location: Unity of Blue Water Church, Port Huron, Michigan, USA
Event: Public workshop
Occurred: March 8, 2011
Location: Unity Church of Livonia
Event: Citizens for Peace monthly meeting (campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace; the Peace Alliance)
Program Content: Germany's economic, social, and political situation after World War I and into the 1930s was fertile ground for radicalism. The Nazi Party and Hitler sated the popular demand.
"How Could So Many Murder So Many?" includes a short video of the engaging, interactive Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in East Berlin then discussion of the victims (including non-Jews), abettors throughout Europe, and similarities and differences between then and now.
Suitable for other audiences: Yes, contact me
First the Nazis went after the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did not object. Then they went after the Catholics, but I was not a Catholic, so I did not object. Then they went after the trade-unionists, but I was not a trade-unionist, so I did not object. Then they came after me, and there was no one left to object. --Pastor Martin Neimoller, Confessional Church and pacifist
So Many?
Occurred: April 10, 2011
Location: Unitarian Fellowship, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Event: Public workshop
Occurred: April 3, 2011
Location: Unity of Blue Water Church, Port Huron, Michigan, USA
Event: Public workshop
Occurred: March 8, 2011
Location: Unity Church of Livonia
Event: Citizens for Peace monthly meeting (campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace; the Peace Alliance)
Program Content: Germany's economic, social, and political situation after World War I and into the 1930s was fertile ground for radicalism. The Nazi Party and Hitler sated the popular demand.
"How Could So Many Murder So Many?" includes a short video of the engaging, interactive Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in East Berlin then discussion of the victims (including non-Jews), abettors throughout Europe, and similarities and differences between then and now.
Suitable for other audiences: Yes, contact me
First the Nazis went after the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did not object. Then they went after the Catholics, but I was not a Catholic, so I did not object. Then they went after the trade-unionists, but I was not a trade-unionist, so I did not object. Then they came after me, and there was no one left to object. --Pastor Martin Neimoller, Confessional Church and pacifist
The yellow blots on this map in the Informaction Centre at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Holocaust Memorial) show 500 of thousands of sites related to Nazi persecution: camps, ghettos, mass shootings, and deportation points.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is deceivingly placid around the edge, but walking only a few steps among the concrete, coffin-size stellae shows how people and societies can find themselves "over their heads" in economic hardship, seperatism, corruption, torture, and death.
Under Angels' Wings:
People Who Helped Me on My Journey
Occurred: June 26, 2011
Location: Unity Church of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo, Michigan, US
Event: Sunday service
Occurred: April 10, 2011
Location: Unitarian Fellowship, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Event: Sunday service
Content: When traveling to eight nations for 116 days in 2010, I eschewed hotels as much as possible, staying in homes half the time, sailing aboard ships 35 percent, and in commercial lodgings only 15 percent. Through philosophical conversation with people from eight nations, we discussed universal wants and desires--signs of humanity's global commonality.
Suitable for other audiences: Yes, contact me
People Who Helped Me on My Journey
Occurred: June 26, 2011
Location: Unity Church of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo, Michigan, US
Event: Sunday service
Occurred: April 10, 2011
Location: Unitarian Fellowship, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Event: Sunday service
Content: When traveling to eight nations for 116 days in 2010, I eschewed hotels as much as possible, staying in homes half the time, sailing aboard ships 35 percent, and in commercial lodgings only 15 percent. Through philosophical conversation with people from eight nations, we discussed universal wants and desires--signs of humanity's global commonality.
Suitable for other audiences: Yes, contact me
Robert Weir (right) enjoys an evening with the Gold family in Himmelfporten, Germany. Karsten Gold (left) met Robert on a commuter train and invited him to supper prepared by Hiltrud (center). The evening included a world geography lesson and a bedtime story.
Blessing of the Fleet
Occurred: April 10, 2010
Location: Great Lakes Maritime Center at Vantage Point, Port Huron, Michigan, USA
Event: Blessing of the Great Lakes Commercial Shipping Fleet
Description: As a former chaplain of the Port Huron Yacht Club, I was one of three chaplains who offered prayers. The event was also attended by numerous maritime captains and public service officers, maritime cadets, and a traditional bagpiper.
Occurred: April 10, 2010
Location: Great Lakes Maritime Center at Vantage Point, Port Huron, Michigan, USA
Event: Blessing of the Great Lakes Commercial Shipping Fleet
Description: As a former chaplain of the Port Huron Yacht Club, I was one of three chaplains who offered prayers. The event was also attended by numerous maritime captains and public service officers, maritime cadets, and a traditional bagpiper.
Season for Nonviolence*:
Expanding the Season
Occurred: April 4, 2011
Location: Upper Level Acoustic Cafe, Port Huron, Michigan, USA
Event: Season for Nonviolence closing ceremony
Message: The Season for Nonviolence is a season. Our objective is to be at peace for eternity.
The Region of Nonviolence is within. Our objective is be at peace among all.
Our method is to realize global human commonality.
* The Season for Nonviolence is a 64-day period from March 31 to April 4 to commemorate the lives and peace endeavors of Mohandis Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Expanding the Season
Occurred: April 4, 2011
Location: Upper Level Acoustic Cafe, Port Huron, Michigan, USA
Event: Season for Nonviolence closing ceremony
Message: The Season for Nonviolence is a season. Our objective is to be at peace for eternity.
The Region of Nonviolence is within. Our objective is be at peace among all.
Our method is to realize global human commonality.
* The Season for Nonviolence is a 64-day period from March 31 to April 4 to commemorate the lives and peace endeavors of Mohandis Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
It's About the Resurrection
Occurred: April 3, 2011
Location: Unity of Blue Water Church, Port Huron, Michigan, USA
Event: Sunday service
Content: One paradigm of Lent and Easter is that we must sacrifice because Jesus did for our sins. The modern Unity paradigm says that Lent is a time to let go of any thought structure that no longer serve our spiritual god and rejoice in Jesus' great accomplishment: the resurrection.
Occurred: April 3, 2011
Location: Unity of Blue Water Church, Port Huron, Michigan, USA
Event: Sunday service
Content: One paradigm of Lent and Easter is that we must sacrifice because Jesus did for our sins. The modern Unity paradigm says that Lent is a time to let go of any thought structure that no longer serve our spiritual god and rejoice in Jesus' great accomplishment: the resurrection.
Sharon Kleyne Hour: Health, Environment, & the Power of Water
Occurred: February 28, 2011
Location: World Talk Radio
What: Interview by host Sharon Kleyne, founder, president, and research director of Bio-Logic Aqua Technologies Biomedical Research, Inc.
Topic: My adventures aboard tall ships Royal Clipper and Kaliakra in April and May, 2010 with subtopics of health, physical fitness, mental preparedness, water, and global unity.
To listen: click here
(Length: 56:30; interview begins at 02:12)
Occurred: February 28, 2011
Location: World Talk Radio
What: Interview by host Sharon Kleyne, founder, president, and research director of Bio-Logic Aqua Technologies Biomedical Research, Inc.
Topic: My adventures aboard tall ships Royal Clipper and Kaliakra in April and May, 2010 with subtopics of health, physical fitness, mental preparedness, water, and global unity.
To listen: click here
(Length: 56:30; interview begins at 02:12)
Crew aboard three-masted barquentine Kaliakra on Aegean Sea in the Historical Seas Tall Ships Regatta,
12 May 2010.
12 May 2010.
"The Lost Art"
Occurred: January 22, 2011
Location: First Baptist Church, 315 W. Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
What: "The Lost Art," an original radio drama by Robert M. Weir, performed live by All Ears Theatre (Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo) in the style of the Golden Age of Radio with live voice talent, sound effects, and original music.
Story line: Cassandra Clubs is an investigator who specializes in the recovery of stolen art and cultural artifacts. A mysterious woman contacts her and asks her to help recover stolen Roman artifacts from around the time of 300 A.D. Cassandra agrees and before she realizes it, her quest for the missing treasure has her traveling throughout the Mediterranean.
Broadcast: WMUK-FM (102.1) in Southwest Michigan, Sunday, February 27, 4:00 pm
Occurred: January 22, 2011
Location: First Baptist Church, 315 W. Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
What: "The Lost Art," an original radio drama by Robert M. Weir, performed live by All Ears Theatre (Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo) in the style of the Golden Age of Radio with live voice talent, sound effects, and original music.
Story line: Cassandra Clubs is an investigator who specializes in the recovery of stolen art and cultural artifacts. A mysterious woman contacts her and asks her to help recover stolen Roman artifacts from around the time of 300 A.D. Cassandra agrees and before she realizes it, her quest for the missing treasure has her traveling throughout the Mediterranean.
Broadcast: WMUK-FM (102.1) in Southwest Michigan, Sunday, February 27, 4:00 pm
"The Lost Art" features an all-woman cast, the first in All Ears Theatre history. Pictured are (left) Kira Sanscrainte as Marianna, Christina Clarke as Jasmine, Justine McKenna who played five cameo parts, Shelley Johnson as Cassandra (Cass) Clubs, and announcer Mickey Sykes.
Great Crossings
Occurred: April 9, 2011
Location: Studio 1219, Port Huron, Michigan, USA
Event: Public showing w/ dinner (sold out)
Occurred: April 2, 2011
Location: Great Lakes Maritime Center at Vantage Point, Port Huron, Michigan, USA
Event: Public showing w/ dinner (sold out)
Occurred: November 9, 2010
Location: Sports Forum, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
Event: Monthly meeting of the Kalamazoo Sail & Power Squadron
Attendance: 25 people
Program length: 55 minutes
Comments: Interesting, delightful, great photos
Suitable for other audiences: Yes; contact me
Program content: PowerPoint presentation featuring the three ships I sailed aboard this past summer:
-- Five masted tall ship Royal Clipper across the Atlantic from Barbados to Malaga, Spain;
-- Three-masted sail training vessel Kaliakra from Volos, Greece, to Varna, Bulgaria;
-- Ferry and cargo ship Translubeca from Lubeck, Germany, to Sankt Petersburg, Russia; plus
-- Various watercraft in Hamburg, Germany.
Read accolades in Kalamazoo Sail & Power Squadron newsletter.
Location: Studio 1219, Port Huron, Michigan, USA
Event: Public showing w/ dinner (sold out)
Occurred: April 2, 2011
Location: Great Lakes Maritime Center at Vantage Point, Port Huron, Michigan, USA
Event: Public showing w/ dinner (sold out)
Occurred: November 9, 2010
Location: Sports Forum, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
Event: Monthly meeting of the Kalamazoo Sail & Power Squadron
Attendance: 25 people
Program length: 55 minutes
Comments: Interesting, delightful, great photos
Suitable for other audiences: Yes; contact me
Program content: PowerPoint presentation featuring the three ships I sailed aboard this past summer:
-- Five masted tall ship Royal Clipper across the Atlantic from Barbados to Malaga, Spain;
-- Three-masted sail training vessel Kaliakra from Volos, Greece, to Varna, Bulgaria;
-- Ferry and cargo ship Translubeca from Lubeck, Germany, to Sankt Petersburg, Russia; plus
-- Various watercraft in Hamburg, Germany.
Read accolades in Kalamazoo Sail & Power Squadron newsletter.
Royal Clipper's foremast and square-rigged sails, as seen from the prow.
Common Threads and
the Golden Strand
Sunday Spiritual Service
Occurred: Sunday, May 29, 2011
Location: Unity of Blue Water Church, Port Huron, Michigan, USA
Sunday Spiritual Service
Occurred: Sunday, February 6, 2011
Location: Peace Unity Church, Clarkston, Michigan, USA
Keynote address
Occurred: November 4, 2010
Location: Madonna University, Livonia, Michigan, USA
Event: Closing ceremony of “Common Threads that Unite the World’s Religious Traditions” exhibit
Comments: Interesting, spiritually powerful
Content: Several common threads, such as the Trinity and virgin birth, are found in the world's various religious traditions, but the Golden Strand is Divine Energy, that is, God's universal love for all people. While the ego would have us believe in sin, or separation from God and from each other, God's love reminds us that we are part of the great Golden Strand that winds all of us into a Grand Universal Tapestry.
Length: 20 minutes
Suitable for other audiences: Yes. Contact me.
Other features: poetry by Rogelio Hernandez
Exhibit: The “Common Threads” exhibit uses art to explore spirituality and express common themes that unify the spiritual philosophies of the world. The exhibit includes work from 14 local artists who use painting, tapestry, sculpture, and drawing to delve into the unifying aspects of religion.
Occurred: Sunday, May 29, 2011
Location: Unity of Blue Water Church, Port Huron, Michigan, USA
Sunday Spiritual Service
Occurred: Sunday, February 6, 2011
Location: Peace Unity Church, Clarkston, Michigan, USA
Keynote address
Occurred: November 4, 2010
Location: Madonna University, Livonia, Michigan, USA
Event: Closing ceremony of “Common Threads that Unite the World’s Religious Traditions” exhibit
Comments: Interesting, spiritually powerful
Content: Several common threads, such as the Trinity and virgin birth, are found in the world's various religious traditions, but the Golden Strand is Divine Energy, that is, God's universal love for all people. While the ego would have us believe in sin, or separation from God and from each other, God's love reminds us that we are part of the great Golden Strand that winds all of us into a Grand Universal Tapestry.
Length: 20 minutes
Suitable for other audiences: Yes. Contact me.
Other features: poetry by Rogelio Hernandez
Exhibit: The “Common Threads” exhibit uses art to explore spirituality and express common themes that unify the spiritual philosophies of the world. The exhibit includes work from 14 local artists who use painting, tapestry, sculpture, and drawing to delve into the unifying aspects of religion.
"The Messenger," a painting by Kim Ensch was one of the pieces of art on display at the "Common Threads" exhibit at Madonna University in Livonia.
Rebuilding Religious Russia
Occurred: March 21, 2011
Event: St. Michael Lutheran Women's Fellowship monthly meeting
Location: St. Michael Lutheran Church, Portage, Michigan
Occurred: 20 October 2010
Location: Oshtemo Branch of the Kalamazoo Public Library, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Event: Kalamazoo-Pushkin Partnership monthly meeting
Attendance: 40 people, including members and public
Program length: 45 minutes plus Q&A
Comments: Informative, interesting, fast-paced, great photos
Suitable for other audiences: Yes; contact me
Content: Russians in Pushkin, Moscow, other cities, and rural areas are rebuilding churches, cathedrals, and cultural monuments that lend character to the country's dedication to their religious heritage.
Some of these edifices were destroyed during World War I, World War II, or the Communist Era, but their memories were never removed from peoples’ minds. And now the people are bringing them back.
The program tours St. Catherine’s Cathedral in Pushkin; Holy Resurrection Cathedral and Cathedral to Our Lady of Kazan in Sankt Petersburg; and, in Moscow, St. Basil’s Cathedral, Temple of Christ the Savior, and other churches within Red Square and the Kremlin.
Event: St. Michael Lutheran Women's Fellowship monthly meeting
Location: St. Michael Lutheran Church, Portage, Michigan
Occurred: 20 October 2010
Location: Oshtemo Branch of the Kalamazoo Public Library, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Event: Kalamazoo-Pushkin Partnership monthly meeting
Attendance: 40 people, including members and public
Program length: 45 minutes plus Q&A
Comments: Informative, interesting, fast-paced, great photos
Suitable for other audiences: Yes; contact me
Content: Russians in Pushkin, Moscow, other cities, and rural areas are rebuilding churches, cathedrals, and cultural monuments that lend character to the country's dedication to their religious heritage.
Some of these edifices were destroyed during World War I, World War II, or the Communist Era, but their memories were never removed from peoples’ minds. And now the people are bringing them back.
The program tours St. Catherine’s Cathedral in Pushkin; Holy Resurrection Cathedral and Cathedral to Our Lady of Kazan in Sankt Petersburg; and, in Moscow, St. Basil’s Cathedral, Temple of Christ the Savior, and other churches within Red Square and the Kremlin.
The recently reconstructed
St. Catherine's Cathedral
in Pushkin's town centre.
The original cathedral had been destroyed and replaced with a statue of Lenin during the Communist regime;
this iteration matches the original and was dedicated
on Sunday, June 27, 2010,
as part of Pushkin's 300th anniversary celebration.
St. Catherine's Cathedral
in Pushkin's town centre.
The original cathedral had been destroyed and replaced with a statue of Lenin during the Communist regime;
this iteration matches the original and was dedicated
on Sunday, June 27, 2010,
as part of Pushkin's 300th anniversary celebration.
Sharon Kleyne Hour: Health, Environment, & the Power of Water
Occurred: March 29, 2010
Location: World Talk Radio
What: Interview by host Sharon Kleyne, founder, president, and research director of Bio-Logic Aqua Technologies Biomedical Research, Inc.
Topic: My upcoming plans to travel for four months to eight nations, staying as much as possible in people's homes and absorbing their culture and customs.
Nations to visit: Barbados, Azores, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, India.
Waters to cross: Atlantic Ocean on tall ship Royal Clipper, Aegean and Black seas on tall ship and Baltic Sea on cargo/passenger ferry Kaliakra,Translubeca.
To listen: click here
(Length: 57:20; interview runs from 05:40 to 37:15)
Occurred: March 29, 2010
Location: World Talk Radio
What: Interview by host Sharon Kleyne, founder, president, and research director of Bio-Logic Aqua Technologies Biomedical Research, Inc.
Topic: My upcoming plans to travel for four months to eight nations, staying as much as possible in people's homes and absorbing their culture and customs.
Nations to visit: Barbados, Azores, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, India.
Waters to cross: Atlantic Ocean on tall ship Royal Clipper, Aegean and Black seas on tall ship and Baltic Sea on cargo/passenger ferry Kaliakra,Translubeca.
To listen: click here
(Length: 57:20; interview runs from 05:40 to 37:15)
Russian tall ship Mir at sunset on the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey, sailing in the Historical Seas Tall Ships Regatta, 18 May 2010.
Sharon Kleyne Hour: Health, Environment, & the Power of Water
Occurred: December 14, 2009
Location: World Talk Radio
What: Interview by host Sharon Kleyne, founder, president, and research director of Bio-Logic Aqua Technologies Biomedical Research, Inc.
Topic: John McConnell, creator of the Earth Flag and the original Earth Day on the vernal equinox, and John's biography, which I wrote, titled Peace, Justice, Care of Earth.
To listen: click here
(Length: 53:20; interview runs from 08:45 to 35:37)
Occurred: December 14, 2009
Location: World Talk Radio
What: Interview by host Sharon Kleyne, founder, president, and research director of Bio-Logic Aqua Technologies Biomedical Research, Inc.
Topic: John McConnell, creator of the Earth Flag and the original Earth Day on the vernal equinox, and John's biography, which I wrote, titled Peace, Justice, Care of Earth.
To listen: click here
(Length: 53:20; interview runs from 08:45 to 35:37)
John McConnell, founder of the original Earth Day on the vernal equinox (1970) and creator of the Earth Flag.