Linus is building castles in the sand. He tells Charlie Brown: "Working with your hands is good therapy . . . It takes your mind off your troubles . . . Whenever I feel depressed, I build sand castles . . . I've been feeling pretty depressed lately!"

Behind him we see a dozen or so sandcastles.

In baseball they tell the story about the rookie who faced the great pitcher Walter Johnson for the first time. Johnson was in his prime. The batter took two quick strikes and headed for the dugout. He told the umpire to keep the third strike--he had seen enough.

Have you ever felt like that? Jesus promised his disciples, "I will not leave you comfortless." Have you ever felt comfortless? The RSV translation uses the term desolate. Have you ever experienced desolation? For some people this is no …