Peacemaker

Sunday services have just ended at Odyssey Community Church, and Connie Kendall, Donna Barclay, and Jessie Morales find themselves in a Sunday school classroom, each mysteriously invited there by John Whittaker. Whit explains that the pastor has been preaching about love and compassion, and the church elders have declared the coming week Compassion Week, seven days of programs to help the homeless. He asks the three girls to come up with a project to raise money, food, or clothing for those in need, then leaves them to organize it themselves.

An hour later, the group has produced nothing but a paperclip necklace. When Connie points out that someone ought to lead the group, Donna volunteers, and Jessie objects that Donna always has to be in charge of everything. The disagreement flares into name-calling. Jessie says Donna is bossy; Donna says Jessie is unreliable and disorganized. Both girls storm out, no longer speaking to each other.

Connie reports the disaster to Whit, ready to give up, but Whit reminds her that she is the only one both girls are still talking to. "Blessed are the peacemakers," he tells her, and Connie agrees to try. She catches Donna mowing the lawn and Jessie jogging at the track, assuring each girl that the other did not mean what she said. Both agree to meet at Whit's End at five o'clock. But the peace talks collapse almost instantly. Comparing notes, Donna and Jessie discover that Connie has privately agreed that Donna is bossy and that Jessie is disorganized. Now neither of them is speaking to Connie either, and all three go home angry.

A discouraged Connie asks Whit what went wrong. Whit explains that she tried to make peace on false pretenses, ignoring the source of the conflict instead of resolving it. Donna really is a take-charge person, and Jessie really is disorganized, so making them apologize for saying true things would never bring lasting peace. Before Connie can bring the two together, she has to make her own peace with each of them.

So Connie goes to Donna's house, where Donna's father shows her in. Connie apologizes honestly for handling things badly, then gently helps Donna admit that people who like to take charge must be careful not to make others feel less important. Together they walk to Jessie's porch, where Connie tells Jessie the truth - she is disorganized, but that does not make her a bad person, and she has a real gift for words that the others lack. Connie remembers how the Apostle Paul described the church as a body with many members, each with different abilities, and says their little group is just the same. Apologies are traded all around, though nobody exactly enjoys it.

When the girls finally share their fundraising ideas, Donna and Jessie immediately begin arguing over who gets to go first. Connie has them swap papers instead, and to everyone's amazement they have written down the very same idea: a charity dinner where church members donate the food and every guest pays for a plate, with the money going to feed and shelter the homeless. They name it Plates Against Poverty.

The dinner at Whit's End is a great success. Donna has organized the food, Jessie has written all the publicity, and Connie has spread the word to everyone she met. Whit quietly thanks Connie, telling her that without her patience and courage as a peacemaker, the whole project would still be sitting on a couple of slips of paper. Donna and Jessie surprise Connie with a commemorative plate inscribed with Matthew 25:40, about serving Jesus by serving the least of his brothers. Then, as the happy evening winds down, the two of them begin bickering over who saw the plate in the shop first - proof that a peacemaker's work is never quite done.