“The time is always right to do what is right.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Gone was the large, raucous crowd. Gone were all the parents, players, and coaches. All that remained in the cavernous gym was the custodian, cleaning up the aftermath from the basketball game. He liked his work because there was a part of him that saw what he did — the setup and the cleanup — as an integral part of everything that happened in that place.
In the solitude of the gym, headphones on, working in the routine and rhythm of his tasks, he suddenly noticed something on the floor near the bleachers. On closer inspection, he found that it was a wallet. Opening it to see if he could identify its owner, he discovered that, while there was no clear indication of who it belonged to, it was filled with cash.
In that moment, there wasn’t even a flicker of doubt about what he should do. Even though no one else was present — no crowd, no cameras — the custodian was crystal clear: he needed to place the wallet safely in the office.
On Monday morning, when the principal expressed gratitude to the custodian for turning in the wallet, he added, “You know, you had a choice. Not everyone would have done what you did.” The custodian responded with little emotion, “Just the way I was raised — integrity is what you do when no one’s watching.”
The principal told the story in the morning announcements. Teachers talked about it in class. And without intending to, that quiet custodian offered a life lesson — that integrity is often not proven in the spotlight, but in the unseen moments when no one else is present.
Integrity comes from the Latin word integer meaning ‘whole’ or ‘complete’. It refers to being undivided, consistent, and true — when one’s inner convictions and outward actions are aligned. In Hebrew, the word tamim often translates as ‘blameless’ or ‘whole’, and conveys the idea of being integrated, undivided, complete, and authentic. To walk with integrity is not to be perfect, but to be whole.
Every day we witness a lack of integrity — from those who make a living scamming others to leaders whose words and deeds do not align. Each day, we too are given countless opportunities to decide whether we will live with integrity, as the custodian did, or not. As Stanley Hauerwas, one of the most influential Christian ethicists and theologians of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, wrote: “Integrity is not a possession; it’s a practice.”
“The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.” – Augustine of Hippo
BP