Tom Waltz learns that his father, Stanley, is suffering from a mysterious malady in Lourdes. He immediately boards the next plane to France, despite the objections of his wife, Marion, who blames Tom's father for ruining his life. During the flight, Tom recalls his traumatic past: As a child, Tom witnesses many a conflict between his atheistic father, a Polish-American furniture mover, and fundamentalist mother. After a particularly heated domestic spat, Stanley becomes infatuated with Lena, a freewheeling artist, but their "affair," a series of sexual blunders, never develops and Lena leaves town, giving Stanley a romantic poem as a farewell gift. Tom grows up to become a philosophy teacher at the local college, and he marries Marion, a philosophy student. Stanley enters Lena's poem in a literary contest and wins the grand prize of $10,000, which he announces he will donate to Tom's department. The prize is withdrawn, however, when a live TV broadcast reveals that Stanley's "original" poem is actually an Elizabeth Barrett Browning love sonnet. Because of the scandal Tom is denied a promotion, which goes instead to Dr. Littlefield, Tom's longtime nemesis. Stumbling into church as a last resort, the anguished Stanley promises God that he will never again bother Tom if God will restore Tom's job. Upon learning that Dr. Littlefield has died and Tom has gotten the job, Stanley leaves the country in a panic . Arriving in Lourdes, Tom rushes to his ailing father's bedside and learns that Stanley holds himself responsible for Dr. Littlefield's death. Stanley makes a rapid recovery when Tom tells his father that Littlefield died before the pact with God; and he is further cheered when Marion, who has flown to Lourdes to join Tom, happily tells him he will soon be a grandfather.