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We have entered the four-day ceasefire and exchange of Israeli and Palestinian people who walk across hard terrain to get home. The waiting is difficult to manage and consuming. It reminds me of the myth of Persephone who was taken into the underworld by Hades. Her mother, Demeter, the goddess of harvest, raged with the wind to the four ends of the earth to no avail. The gods would not listen, people could not help, so she entered a field and instead of looking after the harvest, she built a temple, sat inside, and waited. The crops were left un-gathered, the fruit fell uneaten - but still she waited, until finally, Zeus, the leader of all Gods, listened.

While Demeter waited, so did her daughter Persephone. And although her situation was different, in the end the best thing Persephone could do was to find her own way of building a temple around herself.

A few years ago I spoke to Sir Terry Waite who was taken hostage for five years in 1987 Beirut. He described the difficulty of being chained to the wall and not seeing daylight or colours. He also talked about not letting anger get the better of him to keep his integrity. In captivity, he too had to ‘build a temple around himself’. He coped by remembering books and loving memories in full detail, even writing a book in his head. He also retained his Christian faith and said that with all of these ‘my soul could not be taken.’

When Persephone begins her journey home, Demeter’s waiting changes into a vigil of hope. Classical texts often depict Persephone in the dark tunnels holding a small lantern focussed on the route ahead. To cross the darkness, she must focus on that light and not look back. She reminds me of Psalm 18 and the line, ‘You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light’. Over the next few days hostages and prisoners will take this anxious path, knowing the exchange might not go well but looking ahead and holding on to hope.

And as the hostages and prisoners arrive home there is joy. Sharone Lifschitz who saw her mother released from Gaza describes the return of every hostage as a ray of light. But we will continue to wait for more to return and a new vision of not just a pause in fighting but peace.

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