DONUTS

There was a boy by the name of Steve who was attending school in Utah.

Brother Christianson taught 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 by his rules. Steve had

been kicked out of his sixth period and no other teacher wanted him, so

he went into Brother Christianson's class. Steve was told that he could

not be late, so he arrived 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, Brother 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 Brother Christianson asked, "How many push-ups can you do?" 

Steve said, "I do about 200 every night." 

"200? That's pretty good, Steve," Brother 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 Brother 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,"

Brother Christianson said. 

Steve said, "Well... I think I can... yeah, I can do it." 

Brother Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday."

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the

room. When class started, Brother Christianson pulled out a big box of

donuts. Now these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the

extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone

was pretty excited-it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they

were going to get an 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 pushups for every person before they

got their donut. And down the second aisle, till Bro. Christianson came

to Scott. Scott was 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 pushups?" 

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 pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?" 

Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, "Hey! I said 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 pushups so

Jenny can have a donut that 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 pushups 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

pushups in a set because he couldn't bear 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're your pushups..

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 realize that if Jason comes in you will

have to do ten pushups 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 pushups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve

did ten pushups 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 pushup 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, the second to last, and asked, "Linda,

do you want a doughnut? Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you." 

Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so that

Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?" 

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups 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 pushups so Susan can have a donut?"

As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding

that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350

pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Brother Christianson turned to the room and said,

"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 required of Him, he collapsed on the cross and

died. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on

the desk, uneaten"