A lighter side of life

This story comes with the title, THE BAPTIST WHITE LIE CAKE, but it is not denominationally exclusive. At some point most of us have seen this kind of white lie passed on in one form or another like the time I was attending a women's society luncheon. It was a covered dish affair. One of the ladies who was sitting at my table had brought desert. She was asked for the recipe and she refused saying that it had been shared with her by the chef to whom she had to promised that she wouldn't pass it on. Without thinking I responded by stating that I believed that my wife made this desert just the other day and it can be found in such-in-such cookbook. Then I realized what I had done to this dear soul, but the truth cannot be covered by a lie ... now can it?

Have you ever told a white lie? You are going to love this, especially all of the ladies who bake for church events.

Alice Grayson was to bake a cake for the Baptist Church Ladies Group in Tuscaloosa, but forgot to do so it until the last minute. She remembered it the morning of the bake sale and after rummaging through cabinets, she found an angel food cake mix and quickly made it while drying her hair, dressing, and helping her son pack up for Scout camp.

When she took the cake from the oven, the center had dropped flat and the cake was horribly disfigured and she exclaimed, “ Oh, dear, there is not time to bake another cake!” This cake was important to Alice because she did so want to fit in at her new church and in her new community of friends.

So, being inventive, she looked around the house for something to build up the center of the cake. She found it in the bathroom - a roll of toilet paper. She plunked it in and then covered it with icing. Not only did the finished product look beautiful, it looked perfect. And before she left the house to drop the cake by the church and head for work, Alice woke her daughter and gave her some money and specific instructions to be at the bake sale the moment it opened at 9:30 to buy the cake and bring it home.

When the daughter arrived at the sale, she found the attractive, perfect cake had already been sold. Amanda grabbed her cell phone and called her mom. Alice was horrified - she was beside herself! Everyone would know! What would they think? She would be ostracized. All night Alice lay awake in bed thinking about people pointing fingers at her and talking about her behind her back.

The next day Alice promised herself she would try not to think about the cake and would attend the fancy luncheon/bridal shower at the home of a fellow church member and try to have a good time. She did not really want to attend because the hostess was a snob who more than once had looked down her nose at the fact that Alice was a single parent and not from the founding families of Tuscaloosa. But having already RSVP’d, she couldn’t think of a believable excuse to stay home.

The meal was elegant, the company was definitely upper crust old south and to Alice’s horror, the cake in question was presented for dessert. Alice felt the blood drain from her body when she saw the cake! She started out of her chair to tell the hostess all about it, but before she could get to her feet, the Mayor’s wife said, “What a beautiful cake!”. Alice, still stunned, sat back in her chair when she heard the hostess (who was a prominent church member) say, “Thank you, I baked it myself.”

Alice smiled and thought to herself, “God is good”.

Quote for today: I would not tell one lie to save the souls of all the world. John Wesley.