Rightly Dividing

At Whit's End, Whit serves a celebration sundae to Camilla Parker, whose soccer team is on a winning streak. Camilla gives the credit to Pastor Wilson Knox: after his Sunday school lesson about King David trusting God against his foes, she began reading from the book of Psalms he gave her and praying with her team before every game - even the girls who aren't Christians join in. Pleased, Pastor Knox agrees to come hear her next pregame pep talk. Meanwhile, Lou, who now helps out at Whit's End making sundaes and cleaning, heads upstairs to tidy the Bible Room, where she finds Declan hiding from the after-school crowd and grumbling that Mickey Plunkett is a rat fink. Mickey got into Declan's gym locker, took his pants, and hung them on the staircase banister in the main hallway, where the whole school saw them. Lou shares that when friends embarrassed her, she used the golden rule - do unto others as you would have them do unto you. But Declan twists her advice into a strange new idea: maybe bullies secretly want to be treated badly so they can see how it feels, and he declares Lou a genius as he rushes off to get even.

Both plans go wrong. At the soccer field, Pastor Knox listens uneasily as Camilla leads her team in praying Psalm 17, asking God to destroy their enemies and make them surrender. And at school, Declan sneaks a binder out of Mickey's open backpack and dumps the homework out a window - only to discover the binder belongs to Hugo McFarland, a big kid famous for pounding people who mess with his stuff, and the papers have scattered all over Principal Vogler's car. Declan spends the afternoon picking up homework in the parking lot, apologizing, and earning a detention while Mickey films everything. Back in the Bible Room, Declan asks Lou how she really handles friends who embarrass her. She says she forgives them, because that's what she'd want if she ever embarrassed someone, and it works every time. Declan decides forgiveness must be a secret weapon that will finally make Mickey feel terrible.

Pastor Knox gently challenges Camilla about her pep talk, explaining that she prayed an imprecatory psalm - a prayer against enemies. Camilla surprises him: she looked it up and chose it on purpose, because on the field the other team is the enemy, and besides, her team is winning and hearing the Bible. When she hurries off to practice still insisting there's nothing wrong with praying to win, Knox decides to try something else. At Whit's End, Declan tries his new weapon, solemnly telling Mickey, "I forgive you." Mickey only howls with laughter until Whit throws him out, and Declan angrily blames Lou for bad advice. With Whit's help, the mix-up gets untangled: Lou never meant that forgiving people makes them feel bad - it makes her feel better, every time. Whit adds the deeper lesson: "Doing unto others is not about what others do. It's about what you do." Declan should forgive Mickey even if Mickey never changes, both because it's how he'd want to be treated and because it's what God does for him. Declan and Lou apologize to each other, trade forgiveness for real this time, and share a sundae.

After practice, Camilla meets Sarah, a friendly girl who calls herself Camilla's biggest fan - but who has heard her play, not seen her, because Sarah is nearly blind. Sarah is scheduled for risky cornea transplant surgery that could restore her sight or leave her completely blind. What weighs on her most is that donated corneas only last about two weeks, which means her donors are still alive right now, probably young, and will likely die suddenly. So instead of praying to win, Sarah prays for the donor and the donor's family, and most of all that God's will be done. After Sarah leaves, Pastor Knox admits he asked her to talk with Camilla, and he asks Camilla to consider that praying for God to favor her team is also asking God to make the other team lose - as if her team were more worthy of God's blessing. He reminds her that Jesus said to bless your enemies and pray for those against you. Then comes the final surprise: the reason Sarah has heard Camilla play so often is that her sister Kaelin is on one of Camilla's rival teams.

On game day, everything comes full circle. Hugo McFarland marches up to Declan - but instead of pounding him, he says that if Declan could forgive Mickey for the pants, he can forgive Declan for the homework. A stunned Declan promises never to do it again, and Lou happily points out that she told him forgiveness works. Before the game, Camilla leads her team in a new kind of prayer, asking God to help everyone do their best, play hard, and stay healthy and safe. When Coach Cramden notes it wasn't her usual prayer, she answers, "No, Coach. It was a better one." Pastor Knox congratulates her, then grins and asks her to do one thing for him and for her biggest fan: "Win!"