At the recent executive board meeting of Be-Birmingham we discussed a diagram showing the priorities for the city in the coming months and years. Right at the top of the chart is the objective the people in this city should ‘enjoy a high quality of life’.

For many August is a time for high quality living. Most of us will have some time to spend in ways that refresh and energise us. For some that will mean holidays with friends or families, for others it means time spent in the garden or doing DIY.

My one way of relaxing and reinvigorating myself is reading history. I am taking three books with me on holiday – although I may have to pay excess baggage charges to get them through check-in!

The first is Diarmaid MacCulloch’s book, The History of Christianity, which follows the popular TV series shown last year. This book is a digest of the global impact of Christianity and I love the subtitle ‘The First Three Thousand Years’ which reminds us that we are part of a movement with both a history and a future.

This book is still the 10th most popular book in Amazon’s history section, nearly a year after it was first published. It is easy to think that faith is marginalized by mainstream cultures but this book and TV series are symbols of society’s regard for Christian thinking and values that permeate our culture. For those that like their religion lite, this July more than 2 million people tuned in to Revs, a BBC comedy based on inner city parish life.

The next book I plan to read is a biography of John Adams who was the second president of the United States of America while the third is a novel I picked up in Waterstones by Rafik Schami, called The Dark Side of Love, set in 20th century Syria.

I have chosen these books in order to better understand two regions of the world that have a profound influence on the UK today - the USA and the Middle East. The word 'democracy' (once called 'the least bad form of government') is being  re-examined on both sides of the Atlantic and not least in our own coalition experiment. Keeping our theoretical frameworks informed by the complex realities of human desires and confusions, may help us resolve  'tribal' tensions before they become unbearable.

Having the freedom to read and think in good company, perhaps even with sunshine, is indeed a good quality of life and will refresh me for resuming work in September.
I trust your recreation in August will enhance your enthusiasm for your calling as a disciple of Jesus in renewed worship, and a better understanding of your role together with fellow citizens in ensuring a high quality of life for all.

+David
Bishop of Birmingham