A FARMER has planted a maze spelling out a Bible verse that can
be read only from the sky.
The farmer, Peter Gunner, from East Sussex, planted and pruned
thousands of willow trees to paraphrase the message, from John
14.6: "Jesus said to him: 'I am the way, the truth, and the life.'"
But he saw his creation for the first time only recently, when a
neighbour, who is a police officer, gave him an aerial picture
taken from a helicopter.
Mr Gunner, who first began planning the maze on his computer 20
years ago, regularly prunes his creation; and, amazingly, the
aerial images showed only slight mistakes in the letters - the top
of the "J" is slightly wonky, and the "a" in "am" is askew. He
hopes to fix these one day.
Mr Gunner, who is 63, and lives on the farm with his wife,
Faith, said: "The maze is a lot like life: no one knows what it
looks like from above. You can wander through life confused, when
in fact it makes sense from a different perspective."
Church groups may use the maze, and it can be seen on Google
Maps of the Chiddingly area, in East Sussex. Mr Gunner said: "Every
time I see a plane go over, I look at it and say a little prayer. I
hope somebody sees the maze and feels inspired."
He has also placed the word "Rejoice" on a barn roof, marked out
in coloured tiles.
