I have a simple wish for Malibu. It is that we be able to talk about issues without attacking the integrity of one another. Most of the people I have met in business, politics, education and children’s activities are responsible, intelligent, creative, caring and incredibly hard working. Though we often do not have consensus about either the big or small things, that is normal. Wherever there is attachment and wherever people care deeply, there is conflict.
I do not know the person who wrote about the parking situation at Malibu High School, and I do agree it is horrendous. But to blame the principal, Mike Matthews, defies not only courtesy but plain logic. Did Mr. Matthews mandate the placement of two schools on a street that was designed to be rural and residential and is woefully small for the hundreds of cars that transport people daily on it? Did he control the explosive growth in the school-age population that has dramatically expanded the enrollment at both Cabrillo and the high school? No, only blaming Mike Matthews was wrong. The way it was done was wrong. And Sherman Baylin is one of the great compassionate ones of Malibu. She would laugh to be called a saint, but her devotion to those critters who cannot speak for themselves reminds me of no one as much as St. Francis. If she is the object of any kind of vendetta because of her political opinions, I feel that we all just need to take a deep breath here and get some perspective.
Living in Malibu is a blessing no one should take lightly, a blessing which carries within it many responsibilities. As with every community, we must learn, gracefully and competently, to share what we have and to live together harmoniously. We can do anything if we have the common will to do it, and if we let courtesy rule our words and actions. Here’s a good motto from St. Augustine: “If you are silent, be silent from love. If you accuse, accuse from love. If you correct, correct from love. If you spare, spare from love. Let love be rooted deep in you, and only good can grow from it.”
The Reverend Susan W. Klein