(church in this post refers only to community in a broad sense.)

in the summer I visited an Anglican monastery;

in the country where I work the national church is pretty well the only one

but I struggle with both.

the real church-

the community which only you see and love -

how can this be directly linked to a national institution? 

It is also true that we can never be witnesses to this real church -

truths that we are not privy to -

this seemed important when I was in the monastery years ago

when I had to keep reminding myself that just because I was 'there'

in a visible church day after day -
did not mean that all was 'right'.

The church that we see can never be the church that you see.

So just because the church suddenly becomes 'international' as opposed to 'national' -

which arguably the Anglican church slightly is, and the Roman church more so -

does not mean that it is in any greater sense "the church that you see"

"Where two or three are gathered together".

But at least it helps break the initial mental "border barrier"

in a way that a nationalist church can clearly never do,

even from day one.

There is a sacramental element to any visible church, 

and the closer that visible church can get to representing the true church -

the church that you see and love -

then the more freely blessing can flow.