DEVELOP YOUR POTENTIAL AS "GENERAL SHERMAN" HAS

There is an enormous redwood tree at Sequoia National Park in California that demonstrated the limitless potential of God's creation.

The tree is called "General Sherman." It is 276 feet 8 inches tall--taller than a 25-story building. It is 35 feet 9 inches across and its circumference is 103 feet! It would take seventeen large men, locking their hands, to encircle this tree. One of its branches, which reaches 135 feet in the air, is seven feet in diameter and 145 feet long. There is enough lumber in this tree to build three hundred 5-room bungalows. It would take three 110-car railroad trains to haul all of the foliage and lumber from the tree. Another interesting thing about "General Sherman" is the fact that it is regenerative. That means that if lightning strikes a branch, a new twig will form and a new branch will grow from it.

The most startling thing about this tree, which is an estimated 3,000 years old, is that it grew from a seed that weighed 3/100ths of an ounce: a seed so small, that if held in your hand, it could become lost in the creases of your palm.

Do you think God, who in His infinite wisdom created man in His own image and likeness, would have given greater potential to a tree than He would to you and me? Within each of us is a potential greatness that can be developed through goal-setting, strengthening of the self-concept, and a continuous striving to become the persons we are meant to be.