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Good Morning There were so many symbolic gestures during yesterday’s historic meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea. The warm embrace and strong handshakes. The long relaxed conversations in a demilitarised zone at the suitably named peace house. The planting of a tree using soil and water from both countries. But without doubt the most memorable of all was when, having stepped over the line of demarcation from North to South Korea, Kim Young Un took President Moon’s hand and the two leaders stepped back north before returning south, arms still clasped firmly together. “These are incredible optics,” shouted one American reporter. She was right. Professor Hazel Smith, a specialist on Korea from the University of London, told ��ѿ��ý News that there was still a very long way to go. But it was, she added, undeniable that the de-escalation of tension was already the most tangible outcome. After 70 years of the most terrible suffering of divided families on both sides, and human rights abuses in the north, there is, at last, a glimmer of hope this morning. And the memory of the two leaders stepping over the line of demarcation and back again seemingly so easily- and with so much symbolism -provides the enduring image, even to the most cynical of observers. The books of the Old Testament speak of similar lines of demarcation – not concrete but natural borders such as mountain ranges, roads or rivers aimed at keeping people on one side or the other usually in order to protect them: as the writer of Psalm 104 explains: “you set a boundary they cannot cross”. But when Joshua brings God’s people to the edge of the River Jordan in the book named after him, we are told that he had to wait with them until the right moment came for them to cross. And when they did, they would realise the error of their ways and have renewed faith in God to overcome whatever human evil had prevented them moving forward. A few weeks ago, at our parish book club we read Krys Lees’ recent novel How I Became A North Korean which depicts three young lives randomly thrown together in the lawless border area of North Korea and China. Each of them has endured a traumatic life so far but, despite the awfulness of their experiences , they still manage to believe that somehow, and in some way, there has to be a better and brighter future. Before our eyes yesterday, those first steps offered real hope that, despite the suffering of the past 70 years, there is a way now to believe that better times lie ahead.