Finding common ground used to feel simple. A handshake. A neighborly wave. A shared laugh over burnt toast in a diner booth. Lately, it feels harder. Conversations carry tension. Quiet places aren’t quiet anymore. Screens shout from every corner, pulling us left and right while most of us sit somewhere in between, just trying to finish our coffee.

This reflection looks at what it means to seek common ground in a divided world. Not by winning arguments or raising our voices, but by choosing presence, listening, and remembering our shared humanity. It’s about slowing down long enough to notice the person across the table, even when the noise refuses to stop, and choosing connection over certainty.

📖 Read the full Journal entry:

https://faithandgoodcourage.com/2026/01/15/finding-common-ground/

🎙️ Roadside Notes is a reading series from the Faith and Good Courage Journal, stories of grace, grit, and second chances written and read by Christopher Tuttle, The Route 66 Chaplain.

#FaithAndGoodCourage #faithgoodcourage #Route66Chaplain #ChristopherTuttle #RoadsideWisdom #Rule66 #HealingHighway #KindnessForTheRoad #QuietStrength #TheCompassionDeficit #WitWisdomAndDinerMoments #GraceOnTheGo #route66

The strength to endure a difficult life is not usually what we ask for at the beginning. Most of us pray for relief, for answers, for the hard parts to be taken away. I know I have. I have asked God to smooth the road, to fix what hurts, to rewind the clock to before everything cracked open and spilled into places I was not ready to face.

Over time, I have learned that endurance is a different kind of gift. This reflection explores the quiet strength that forms when life does not get easier, but we grow steadier. Drawing on wisdom from unexpected places and lived experience, this story looks at patience, resilience, and the kind of faith that does not escape suffering but learns how to remain present within it. Endurance is not about toughness. It is about staying rooted when the storm does not pass quickly.

📖 Read the full Journal entry:

https://faithandgoodcourage.com/2026/01/08/strength-to-endure/

🎙️ Roadside Notes is a reading series from the Faith and Good Courage Journal, stories of grace, grit, and second chances written and read by Christopher Tuttle, The Route 66 Chaplain.

#FaithAndGoodCourage #faithgoodcourage #Route66Chaplain #ChristopherTuttle #RoadsideWisdom #Rule66 #HealingHighway #KindnessForTheRoad #QuietStrength #TheCompassionDeficit #WitWisdomAndDinerMoments #GraceOnTheGo #route66

Rule 66 never began as a campaign or a slogan. It began at a kitchen table that smelled like percolated coffee, ground by hand in a bright red grinder, where my mother quietly taught me how to live. That table became my first classroom, where I learned how to treat people, when to hold my tongue, and how to lead with grace even when life was messy.

This reflection looks back at the woman who shaped the road I’m still traveling. Though she’s been gone more than forty years, her words still echo, reminding me to pause before speaking, offer grace before arguing, never let someone leave hungry, and lift the spirit before leaving the room. Rule 66 is the direction her wisdom pointed me toward, and it still leads me home.

📖 Read the full Journal entry:

https://faithandgoodcourage.com/2026/01/01/rule-66/

🎙️ Roadside Notes is a reading series from the Faith and Good Courage Journal, stories of grace, grit, and second chances written and read by Christopher Tuttle, The Route 66 Chaplain.

#FaithAndGoodCourage #faithgoodcourage #Route66Chaplain #ChristopherTuttle #RoadsideWisdom #Rule66 #HealingHighway #KindnessForTheRoad #QuietStrength #TheCompassionDeficit #WitWisdomAndDinerMoments #GraceOnTheGo #route66