Watertight Integrity
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I learned about risk-taking as a component of integrity in the Navy. I spent 11 years as an active duty Naval Officer, and four and a half of my 20 years of service were aboard ships. In ships and submarines, watertight integrity is essential. Without it, the ship risks sinking. Each door and hatch is lined with a rubber seal, treated with petroleum jelly and tested periodically for its integrity. This ensures that there won’t be any leaks into the next compartment in the event that one side is flooded.
We constantly trained in the Navy to ensure that our watertight integrity remained intact. During General Quarters, the level of alert that we go to when danger is imminent, all doors and hatches are closed and sealed. No one is allowed to move around the ship and open any of these doors.
But, Condition Zebra is an extreme condition in which we take no risks. Everything is locked tight. We don’t go to that condition of watertight integrity very often and don’t stay in it for very long. So, we also had condition Yoke, Xray, and modified Zebra—all different degrees of watertight integrity. Just like in life. Sometimes we open doors and take a calculated risk, sometimes we don’t.
Fundamentalist or conservative faiths might be considered to be more often in condition Zebra, relying more on certainty and allowing for very little risk. But they deny their wholeness in the very act of trying to maintain it—people don’t function as well if they are constantly locked down. As believers in a liberal tradition we allow for less rigidity in our knowledge and beliefs, and are more affirming of others’ beliefs. We take calculated risks, but need to have a keen understanding of why we are doing so, and a plan for when we might tighten up a little.
We often talk about integrity in terms of honesty, of right and wrong. But integrity isn’t a question of either/or, it isn’t a question of should or shouldn’t, can or cannot. Integrity is more complex than that. Critics might say this is a slippery slope—that it is moral relativism to explain away integrity as other than pure and certain. To them I say, we can lock down every door. Or we can live our lives paying attention to our wholeness, maintaining our commitment to freedom, having courage in our convictions, and knowing when to take risks.
Committed to formation and Unitarian Universalism, Rev. Dr. Tittle was an active member on the Southeast Regional Sub-Committee on Candidacy from 2008 to 2018. He was also a co-leader for the Houston Roundtable of the UUA President’s Council.
Matt was active in promoting social justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. He was also a great writer. He was the co-editor of the book, “Bless All Who Serve” (2010) which provides hope, courage, and faith for military personnel and their families. In his leisure time, Matt was a marathon runner. He ran more than a dozen marathons and triathlons, including the Ironman Arizona triathlon and the Comrades ultra-marathon in South Africa.
- Watertight Integrity - May 1, 2020
