Renewal

You know, this whole bartending thing at thesecondchance has been a strange job over the past few years. I take a look back at various posts and I see the diversity represented among them. I see posts of ironic rage, posts of hope, posts of despair, posts about tattoos, posts of mystery, posts of romantic possibilit(ies), odes to friendship, posts of redemption, posts exhibiting pure heathenism, posts of fantastic drama, posts of the moment, posts on fate, and then you just have classics. I see the parts of me that have changed and the parts that have stayed the same. In an inexplicable way, this bar has meant quite a lot for me personally. I can only hope it has been at least moderately enjoyable and at most thought-provoking for all of you. For me, it has often been an escape. A time and place for me to visit where I can express what lies within...doing a job I’ve always longed to do. It’s so important to me, in fact, that I become obsessively perfectionist at times about my “thought posts.” As in, they happen far too seldom because I avoid them. Regardless, it is a place of solace. It is, after all, thesecondchance...where all are welcome but few will ever call home.

Over the years here at thesecondchance, I’ve managed to talk a lot about Christianity, somewhat to a fault. I’ve simply been in conversation with it most of my life. Quite broadly speaking, for about 25 years, I believed Christianity had something to say to the world. For about 7 years, I’ve been spending my time either in full flight from Christianity or in resentful engagement with it. Most of my posts here have followed a relatively standard script: I get angry at certain Christians who have shat on me & those I love through the years, channel it into a caustic rhetorical attack against all Christians (and thereby disservice those Christians who have lived honorable lives), and then I buffer my attack by providing rational justification for all the reasons I no longer believe or practice anything resembling what is often called traditional Christianity. Typically, I dress my posts with questions or statements inviting engagement from all you drinkers that stop by this bar every so often. More often than not, I receive a substantial amount of agreement, interspersed with dissatisfaction over the fact that I provide no answers for the questions, no solutions for the problems, no positives for the negatives, no salve for the wounds. I’ve been going to school most of my life, studying Christian theology for a substantial portion of it, and this is all I have to offer? Hell, I don’t even have an answer to that question. Perhaps it’s why my ears perk up when I hear Ludwig Feuerbach’s words:

“Only he who has the courage to be absolutely negative has the strength to create something new.”

I realize that it’s quite possible that I’m one of only a few people on this earth who would find that quote even mildly encouraging. I also realize that I’m in one of the most emotionally healthy states I’ve been in for years and that it might not be people’s first recommendation to me that I cultivate my sudden rabid craving for the pen of Friedrich Nietzsche. But I am thewalrus. And this, my friends, is thesecondchance. Here you’ll find indulgence celebrated, hypocrisy castigated, and friendship immortalized. I’ll demand your respect but not your love. I’ll demand the same from myself. I'll begin from the only place I can...where I am at the moment.

So as we begin a new chapter here at thesecondchance (for no good reason), you can expect to get a lot of the “same ole same ole” with plenty of seeds of the new. The best of the worst, the worst of the best, and maybe an opportunity to find neither one. But business is business and we’re in a recession. I need you guys to stop by regularly and drink your best or this place might not hold out. I have no problems serving an empty bar while the rest of you do what you gotta do but I’m also not one to invest a lot of time and emotion into mixing a drink that won’t be shared. I don’t mind voyeurs, I enjoy them actually, but I certainly have a deeper appreciation for direct participation, even if only on occasion. Here’s what’s on the agenda:

Coming up this week: My next post will address Nietzsche’s critique of morality and why it has corrupted the spirit of humanity. I’ll of course talk about why I thought about his critique first, how that’s even possible, and why it matters.

On deck: Is it time for another sex post?

Cheers, my friends.