"I won’t tolerate mavericks anymore." – Joseph Goebbels,(left) Nazi Propaganda Minister
Tyrants hate mavericks. Mavericks refuse to follow orders. They hate conformity. Mavericks are iconoclastic by nature. The best mavericks disrupt the status quo because they know that’s where "the devil" lives.
Jesus was a maverick. So were all of his finest followers; and so are all of the finest caregivers. Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. attacked things the way they were and fought for positive change.
But Goebbels himself was once a maverick; and so was Hitler. So we know that mavericks come in all shades and qualities…
How do we know when a maverick is offering constructive change and when the maverick is truly just causing trouble? It’s not always clear.
What counts is that mavericks make us think. If we discount them, we do so at our peril – regardless of whether they are good or bad.
The Romans first ignored Jesus then tried to suppress his teachings. Mother Theresa was ridiculed for taking on an impossible task – the care of the poorest of the poor.
But the German establishment foolishly ignored Hitler at the beginning as well. Mistakenly thinking that no one would ever follow such a maniac, they failed to take the steps necessary to stop this menace until it was too late.
Every loving culture needs to respect the presence of its mavericks. Those that do are nurturing the garden of Loving Care.
Who are the mavericks you admire? Are you willing to be one yourself?
-Erie Chapman
Journal of Sacred Work 
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