The Pursuit of Grace: Take the Odd Route

The Pursuit of Grace: Take the Odd Route

Grace hides in the weird, the wide, the sideways.

The Pursuit of Grace is how I execute on Steps 11 and 12 of the Twelve Step recovery journey—not as a ritual, but as a lived strategy. It’s the drivetrain of conscious contact with God, or your Higher Power, and it broadcasts through three core channels: the Formal, the Semi-Formal, and the Everyday.

Whether you find grace in Mass, AA meetings, or a conversation with the service station clerk, these channels only work if you follow three non-negotiable rules of engagement.

The second rule is: Take the Odd Route. Here it is.

Grace doesn’t walk through the front door. It sneaks in through the side window of curiosity, discomfort, and surprise. The second non-negotiable rule of engagement in the pursuit of grace is this: Take the Odd Route.

Grace favors the weird. It lives in the wide. It hides in the sideways. You won’t find it in the brochure or the itinerary. You’ll find it in the pottery class you didn’t plan to take, the stranger you didn’t expect to help, the podcast you didn’t mean to hear, the moment you didn’t think would matter.

Personal Fossil: The Odd Route Is My Route

I’ve lived my entire life differently since I was 14. My first deal wasn’t in business—it was with my typing teacher, Mrs. Kenworthy. I negotiated a flat 50% pass in exchange for staying out of class and spending time in the computer lab. Brokered the deal between her and Mr. Naylor, the Computer Science teacher at St Patrick’s College. As far as I know, I’m the only student who ever did that.

Where most went through to Year 12, I pivoted early. I’d already scored high enough to get into top universities by Year 11, so I quit St Pat’s, moved to Launceston College, dumped STEM, picked up business, economics, and legal—and then dumped class altogether. I landed an internship at Tasmania Bank, opening the building and delivering mail to executives. One of those execs would become my business partner a decade later.

I won the Economics and Legal prizes without attending class. Got into law school. Quit that—couldn’t afford to feed my drinking habit. Took a trainee accountant job while studying part-time. Got fired for running an import/export company out of the top drawer of my desk, making twice my salary in 30 minutes a day. With a mate, we invented the global aluminum makeup case for professional artists. That led to tech venture capital, corporate fixing, and restructuring. I spent half my time in Pattaya, Thailand, helping grow a factory from 8 to 80 employees in Rayong.

I’ve sat in negotiations with billionaires and been a shoulder to cry on for burly Australian welders and hydraulic techs who couldn’t speak English—and I couldn’t speak Thai. That’s the odd route. That’s grace in collision. That’s spiritual velocity.

I did residential property development on the side. And I did all this while being a high-functioning alcoholic, drinking volumes that would kill most.

Somehow, I felt licensed and protected by three pages in Tom Peters’ Liberation Management—a list of 50 quirky things under the heading The Pursuit of Luck. I lived by that list. Blogged about it. Nearly published a book with a New York literary agent. But I couldn’t finish it—because I was too busy bouncing, colliding, pursuing luck, and drinking.

The Pursuit of Luck works. You can bank it.

So does the pursuit of grace in the odd lane

Pop Culture Fossils: Grace in the Sideways

Severus Snape (Harry Potter)

Misunderstood. Maligned. But his grace was hidden in sacrifice. He took the odd route—protecting Harry while appearing to oppose him. His grace was sideways, secret, and ultimately redemptive.

Littlefinger (Game of Thrones)

He mastered the odd route tactically, but never spiritually. His sideways moves were strategic, not sacred. He teaches us what happens when you take the odd route without grace: you end up alone, unravelled, and spiritually bankrupt.

 John Wick (John Wick Series)

A man of violence who flickers with grace when he pauses, when he remembers love, when he chooses mercy. His odd route is paved with pain, but grace still finds him in the cracks.

Doctrine Thread: The Side Door of Grace

Grace rarely arrives through the front door. It climbs in through the laundry chute. It hides in the weird, the wide, the unexpected. You find it when you mix your metaphors and your routines. Bake scones with strangers. Read neuroscience after a true crime binge. Serve breakfast at a school. Take the priest out for dinner. Try a health retreat. Add branches to your family tree.

This is where grace lives—in the sideways, the unexpected, the emotionally weird. For the addict, this is where recovery becomes real. Not in the rehab brochure, but in the lived collisions of everyday grace.

Recovery Application

• The odd route is the shortcut to grace.
• Don’t wait for the perfect path. Take the weird one.
• Grace is found in the wide and the wild. The odd route is the spiritual shortcut to connection.

Rule of Engagement #2: Take the Odd Route

• Spiritual Velocity: Grace favors the weird. The wide. The sideways.
• Warning: Don’t wait for the brochure. Grace doesn’t do itineraries.
• Practice: Mix it up. Reach sideways. Let grace surprise you.

A strong advocate for freedom, limited government, and enterprise-driven progress, Jason also draws deeply from his personal recovery journey—an experience that reshaped his life and fuels his commitment to growth, contribution, and principled living. Through writing, speaking, and service, he continues to learn, share, and speak with purpose.

I can be engaged (on a remunerated or volunteer basis) to sit on Boards, Committees, Advisory and Reference Group Panels, and to speak to Business, Community, and Youth groups. I’m also open to providing comment to media on topics where I have relevant experience or insight. Please feel free to make contact.