"The Steeple..."

"It stopped raining in my head today..."

That would be nice...
I often feel like there's an almighty downpour inside my head, as I try and work out the mess of thoughts that spiral around!

Some of those thoughts are trying to unpack faith and theology...

But here's the thing: I need to unpack those things.

I can't just leave them scrambled because then I won't find my church or any of the other things Hailstorm claim to have found...

That unscrambling is part of the "Long road outta Hell."
For some that might be a journey away from addiction.
It might be a journey towards forgiveness and a shedding of guilt and shame for sins.
It might be loosing the burdens or chains of grief, expectation, anxiety, pain.
Whatever that looks like, my understanding of "hell" is that it is those times, experiences or places where God has been missing, or has been twisted to be something other than entirely good and loving.
For me I think that has most often been in the church, and I am having to journey through it, through the rain inside my head, to discern what God actually is and who I am in light of that.
I think I'm getting closer to the steeple, the place that points to the heavens and is closest to God, with every bit I unpack.

"This is my kingdom
This is my cathedral
This is my castle
This is my armor
This is my anchor
It's been a long road outta Hell up to the steeple
For this is my church and these are my people"

I want to find -
My Kingdom:  Not that I am King, but where I have found a King worth serving;
My Cathedral:  The place where I can be ministered too;
My Castle:  The place in which I will find a refuge, which I will fight to defend, and will be a refuge to others too;
​My Armour:  That which protects me, body and soul;
My Anchor:  That which keeps me grounded in spite of whatever may pass
​My Church and my People:  Fellow disciples who have journeyed with me to this place.