COMMUNITY COMMENTARY -- Valerie Mitchell Starn

As we all watched the horrifying scenes of ground zero on Sept. 11,

there was an eerie sound in the background. Do you recall? Something like

car alarms?

I recently learned that these piercing sounds were distress signals

from firefighters. The signal is heard when a firefighter on a call is

suddenly motionless. On this day, hundreds were stopped all at once in a

crashing inferno, all in a single morning, leaving behind only the sound

of their distress call.

Nearly three weeks later, a different kind of tragedy hit Rock Harbor

Church. We as a congregation all heard the news together, and the

sanctuary was eerily quiet. Somehow, as our elder board explained that my

friend and pastor, Keith Page, would be stepping down because of an

admission of adultery, my mind recalled the sound of those alarms.

Clearly our church crisis doesn’t compare with the deaths of thousands

of people in New York, but the sound in my head was the collective

thought of 2,000 people in Costa Mesa crying out. Distress calls from

people who for a moment can’t move -- can’t believe what they are

hearing.

Far too many distress signals have been sounding in Costa Mesa lately.

Lives cut short, families in pain and brokenness. Ceceline Godsoe, 16,

was murdered late one night at Fairview Park. Matt Colby, 17, dies a day

after a football game.

What good comes from tragedy? Not enough in this world. But Colby’s

family has learned that they have more friends than they ever imagined. I

had the opportunity to speak with Godsoe’s parents, and they have found

that they have the strength to warn other teens about the dangers of a

reckless lifestyle.

Those of us at Rock Harbor have learned that we can only look to God,

not to a pastor, for we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. I’m

devastated by what has happened at my church, but I know others back East

and two families right here at home have suffered a much greater loss.

A distress signal is a call for help. For the firefighters, it was too

late for rescue. But if we listen closely, alarms are still sounding

around us. If we try, we just might be able to reach someone in time.

I pray that as a church, Rock Harbor can join with this diverse

community of different faiths and nationalities to concentrate on healing

and to strengthen our city in this time of great need.

* Valerie Mitchell Starn is the news producer of Costa Mesa cable

Channel 3 news for AT&T; Broadband.