Aliel Cunningham

I had not expected to be making a trip back to the old West Virginia farmhouse where I grew up so soon – but here I was taking the familiar route along sparsely populated roads back to my hometown on the western edge of the state.  It is the height of summer and my poor…

Come, let us return to the Lord. “For He has torn us, and He will heal us;  He has wounded us, and He will bind up our wounds. He will revive us after two days, and on the third day He will raise us up so we can live in His presence. Let us strive…

It was the spring of 2016 and I was just beginning to enjoy the blooming cherry blossom flowers of the “not-so-foreign-anymore” Central Asian landscape around me. Although the landscape was an urban one (with tall apartment buildings and metro stations), there were arid mountains in the distance and the sound of farmers selling fruit at…

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”…

When I buy a new purse, I vow to keep it as pristine as it is at that moment. But, inevitably, as time passes, the clutter of life creeps in. It starts with loose change, crumpled receipts, an extra pair of gloves, and several lozenges. By the time the straps crack and give up the…

  I found a flat spot on the uneven ground and carefully lowered my stiffening body onto it. Taking a deep breath of thin air, I gazed for miles across the northern Arizona landscape. Strokes of blue and brown seeped together at the horizon of the high desert. I had just climbed Mount Humphreys, scrambling…

Pause…  among the harried traffic, the hurried lines, the urgent calls. Selah Breathe.  Another breath.  Life given anew.    Selah Dwell with…  birdsong and morning sunlight and news unexpected.   Selah  Take a moment.  Take it all in.   Be still.  Remember….  all the tears and turmoil and racing, anxious thoughts. Spent in the night.…

What exactly is health?  As a physician Osteopath, I am confronted with this question daily. How do we measure health? Is it in a momentary measurement – a blood pressure reading, for example? Or is it in a season like childhood, adolescence, or late adulthood? Or is it better to measure this over a lifetime,…

(photo credit: Nick Walker) The word “kill” leaves us cold.  For all of us it brings something vivid to mind. Something we are eager to shy away from.  In my more unreasonable moods, my mind goes to the tune of Video Killed the Radio Star… an old song that came out around the time I…

  What makes you laugh? Honest laughter is one of those odd things we don’t choose to do. Something surprises us, catches us off guard, and we find ourselves laughing. The more unexpected, the bigger the belly laugh! One thing that never fails to get me laughing is when I get the hiccups. I get…