When viewed from above the trees make reference to the first part of John 14:6, which says, "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life.'"
Gunner told The Telegraph that the maze is made up of "many thousands" of willow trees, which were planted with the help of volunteers and cover seven acres of land. "In a way the maze is a lot like life: nobody knows what it looks like from above. You can wander through life confused when in fact it does make sense from a different perspective," Gunner told The Telegraph.
He used a computer to map out the words before taking to the field with a measuring tape and some string. He tried once before to create the maze in the 1990s, but had to start over after realizing he had somehow only created a messy patch of thistles, SWNS.com reports.
Gunner first saw the fruits of his labor in 2005 after a neighbor, who is a police officer, gave him an aerial photograph of the maze that was taken from a helicopter. He now invites friends and a local church's attendees to visit the maze, which has a public footpath running alongside of it, but also has higher hopes for the message behind it.
"Every time I see a plane go over I look at it and say a little prayer," Gunner told The Telegraph. "I hope that somebody sees it and feels inspired by it."
The Christian Post attempted to reach Gunner by phone but did not get a response by press time.