Community commentary -- Bill Gartner

After gearing up all week for the Sunday church service, I’m usually

pretty tired on Monday afternoons and like to go home early.

So, at 3 p.m. last Monday, when I was walking out of the church

office, my mind was fixed on going home and relaxing with a tall glass of

iced tea.

That’s when it happened: Two young boys in their school uniforms were

getting a drink from the church’s water fountain. I recognized them from

the neighborhood and stopped to say “hi” before leaving.

But leaving was not what they had in mind. They began to drill me with

questions about the church, such as “When does the church open?” and

“When does it close?” For a moment, I felt as if I were back working in a

fast-food restaurant like in my high school days.

So I asked them, “Why are you guys interested in that?” This was where

I really stepped into muddy waters because they answered, “We need a

quiet place to do our homework and we wanted to know if we could do it

here.”

Inquisitively, I asked myself the same question that I’ve been asking

for the last 10 years, “What can I do?”

In case you’re wondering, this story is 100% true, especially the part

about me just wanting to go home that day.

Tragically, this is not an isolated story. At least once a week,

children in the neighborhood ask me if my church is going to start an

after-school program for doing homework. At least that often, kids ask me

about opening a computer center at the church.

A recreational center is another high note on the neighborhood “wish

list.” These are just a few of the needs in my neighborhood. With

frustration I still ask, “What can I do?”

Most residents of Costa Mesa probably would agree that our city needs

some type of change. The different groups that have emerged in Costa Mesa

all believe that change is necessary. We just cannot agree on what type

of change needs to take place.

In his book “City Reaching,” Jack Dennison summarizes in this manner:

“Can anyone doubt the need for transformation in the cities of

America? The statistics are staggering. Today 36 million Americans (14%

of the population) live in poverty. Of those, the portion living in our

urban centers has increased from 30% in 1968 to about 47% today.”

Is Costa Mesa somehow immune to the issues and concerns that are

represented and suggested through these statistics? On the contrary, our

city is not immune. In fact, it has a gaping wound of hostility running

right down the middle of it.

Completely overwhelmed, I still ask, “What can I do?”

Last night, my church hosted its second community meeting in as many

months. The goal is simply to give community members an opportunity to

share what they perceive to be needs and concerns in Costa Mesa.

But we are not stopping there. We also are asking the simplest

question of all: “What can I do?” But now people are beginning to ask

this question with a different attitude: hope.

There are some community members who already have begun asking that

question of themselves. Still, many of us in Costa Mesa simply do not

believe that we can make a difference in transforming our city.

I say “us” and “we” because I still get overwhelmed and frustrated

from time to time. But in seeing people of different social and ethnic

backgrounds come together to ask the simple question, “What can I do?”

hope wins out every time.

* BILL GARTNER lives in Costa Mesa and has been pastor at Harbor

Christian Fellowship on the Westside for more than 40 years.