Jimmy and the White Lie

I've oftened wondered if it's so wrong to tell a little tiny weeny lie. Honestly, I don't know if I know the answer to that. I'm not talking about a lie where your parents ask where you've gone and you say you went to the store when you really went to your friend's house or something like that. I'm talking about a lie that spares the feelings of others. Such as, if someone's in the hospital and they are really sick and you say to them, "Oh, you're looking much better today." When really they look terribly ill. Is that so wrong? I mean, how beneficial would it be if you walked in and said, "My, you look even worse than yesterday. You don't look like you're getting better at all." Now how would that help the situation? So in my case, I think it's better to lie to them instead of hurting their feelings.

There's this story that I use to read as a child and it was one of my favourites. It's called Jimmy and the White Lie by Bartholomew. Part of it goes as follows:

Actually, a quick synopsis is that Jimmy really likes to play baseball. While playing with his friends, he puts the ball threw a neighbour's window. Instead of confessing to the accident, Jimmy runs home to his bedroom and locks himself there for awhile. His mother asked Jimmy if he had been playing baseball because Mr. Crankshaw (broken window neighour) called and said someone broke his window with a baseball. Jimmy lied to his mother and said that he hadn't.

'Then, from the bottom of Jimmy's stomach came a weak little voice. "Let me out!" At first Jimmy pretended he didn't hear it. But the voice got louder until finally it made his ears ring. Then SSWWWOOOOOP! Out of Jimmy's mouth popped a tiny creature.
"Who are you?" Jimmy asked.
"A white lie," it replied. "I'm the lie you told your mother."
"Th-th-the one about the w-w-window?" stammered Jimmy.
"Well, of course!" smirked the lie.'

Further on, Jimmy tries to run from this white lie, but it grows bigger and bigger until it oozes out of all the doors and windows in his house. Finally Jimmy, tired from running and trying to hide this teeny little white lie, confronts his parents and tells them everything.

'"Well," replied his mother, "I guess we all tell lies sometimes, Jimmy. Especially when we're scared. And usually we feel pretty awful afterwards. But there's only one way to get rid of the bad thing we've done, Jimmy. There's only one Person who can help us, and that's God. Only God can forgive us and make us feel better. Why don't you try asking Him?"'

In this story about Jimmy's lie, it tells of how it can grow and get bigger and bigger until you just can't hide it anymore. But is there a difference between Jimmy's lie and a lie that helps someone by sparing their feelings? I don't really know. I mean, at prom, my friend asked me if I liked her dress. I didn't. Did I tell her that? No! Would I ever tell her that? No! The reason is, I wouldn't want her to feel bad that I didn't like her dress. It would do no good if I told her I didn't like it and she had felt all good about it, but because I put it down, she may feel a little selfconscious the rest of the night. It may just be my personality because I really don't like being mean to people, I find it very difficult. For some of you reading this, you're thinking, how can I not be mean! Haha. But honestly, I can't be TRULY mean to someone. The things I say to people are just a joke. So a little note there: if I say something mean to you, I don't actually mean it, it's just a joke. But anyways, I don't know, maybe there's a way around these situations. But what I want to know, is if it is so bad to tell a small lie like the afore mentioned, in order to spare the feelings of others.

On a different note, and a little tip and a lesson I learned today...again: The sun burns! Hahaha! I went on a 2 hour bikeride with my brother and his friend today, and me, being the smart and lazy person I am, only put sunscreen on my arms. Needless to say, my back really hurts! (so don't slap me if you see me!;)) So as Laura said on her blog, wear lots of sunscreen!! Have a wonderful summer guys! (And please attempt to answer my question. I'd really like to know)