Seminary Doughnuts
There was a boy by the name
of Steve who was attending Seminary in Utah.
In Utah, Seminary classes
are held as part of the school curriculum.
Brother Christianson taught
Seminary at this particular school. He had an open door policy and would take
in any student that had been thrown out of another class as long as they would
abide his rules.
Steve had been kicked out
of his sixth period and no other teacher wanted him, so he went into bro.
Christianson's Seminary class.
Steve was told that he
couldn't be late, so he would come in just seconds before the bell rang and he
would sit in the very back of the room. He would also be the first to leave
after the class was over.
One day bro. Christianson
asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. After class bro.
Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, "you think you're pretty tough, don't
you?" Steve's answer was "Yeah, I do." Then bro. Christianson asked, "How many
push-ups can you do?" Steve said, "I do about 200 every night." "200? That's
pretty good, Steve," bro. Christianson said, "Do you think you could do 300?"
Steve replied, "I don't know… I've never done 300 at a time." "Do you think you
could?" Again asked bro. Christianson. "Well, I can try." Said Steve. "Can you
do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this to work. Can
you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it." Bro Christianson said. Steve
said, "Well… I think I can… yeah, I can do it." Bro. Christianson said, "Good!
I need you to do this on Friday."
Friday came and Steve got
to class early and sat in front of the room. When class started, bro.
Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts. Now these weren't the normal kind
of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting
swirls. Everyone was pretty exited— it was Friday, the last class of the day
and they were going to get an extra early start on the weekend.
Bro. Christianson went to
the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want a donut?"
Cynthia said, "Yes." Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve,
would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?" Steve said,
"Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat
in his desk. Bro Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk. Bro. Christianson
then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe, do you want a donut?" Joe
said, "Yes." Bro. Christianson asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Joe
can have a donut?" Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut.
And so it went, down the
first aisle, Steve did ten push-ups for every person before they got their
donut. And down the second aisle, till bro. Christianson came to Scott. Scott
was the captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. He was
very popular and never lacking for female companionship. When bro. Christianson
asked, "Scott, do you want a donut?" Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own
push-ups?" Bro. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them." Then Scott said,
"Well, I don't want one then." Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and
asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't
want?" Steve started to do ten push-ups. Scott said, "HAY! I sad I didn't want
one!" Bro. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks,
and my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a
donut on Scott's desk.
Now by this time, Steve had
begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because
it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a
little perspiration coming out around his brow.
Bro. Christianson started
down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.
Bro. Christianson asked
Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?" Jenny said, "No." Then bro. Christianson
asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Jenny can have a donut she
doesn't want?" Steve did ten, Jenny got a donut.
By now, the students were
beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks.
Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these push-ups
done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor
beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the
physical effort involved.
Bro. Christianson asked
Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten push-ups in a set because he
couldn't bare to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. So
Robert began to watch Steve closely.
Bro. Christianson started
down the fourth row. During his class, however, some students had wandered in
and sat along the heaters along the sides of the room. When bro. Christianson
realized this, he did a quick count and saw 34 students in the room. He started
to worry if Steve would be able to make it.
Bro. Christianson went on
to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve
was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each
set.
Steve asked bro. Christianson,
"Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?" Bro. Christianson thought for a
moment, "Well, they are your push-ups. You can do them any way that you want."
And bro. Christianson went on.
A few moments later, Jason
came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, "NO!
Don't come in! Stay out!" Jason didn't know what was going on. Steve picked up
his head and said, "No, let him come." Bro. Christianson said, "You do realize
that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten push-ups for him." Steve said,
"Yes, let him come in." Bro. Christianson said, "Okay, I'll let you get Jason's
out of the way right now. Jason do you want a donut?" "Yes." "Steve, will you
do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve did ten push-ups very
slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat
down.
Bro. Christianson finished
the fourth row, then started on those seated on the heaters.
Steve's arms were now
shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of
gravity. Sweat was dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was not a
dry eye in the room. The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and
very popular. Bro. Christianson went to Linda and asked, "Linda, do you want a
donut?" Linda, too choked up to talk, just shook her head, no. Bro.
Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can
have a donut she doesn't want?" Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very
slow push-ups for Linda. Then bro. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan.
"Susan, do you want a donut?" Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked,
"Bro. Christianson, can I help him?" Bro. Christianson, with tears of his own,
said, "No, he has to do it alone, Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can
have a donut?"
As Steve very slowly
finished his last push-up, with the understanding that he had accomplished all
that was required of him, having done 350 push-ups, his arms buckled beneath
him and he fell to the floor.
And so it was, that our
Savior, Jesus Christ, plead to the Father, "Into Thy hands I commend My
Spirit." With the understanding that He had done everything that was require of
Him, He collapsed on the cross and died.