“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from Thee, the Father of lights…” (James 1:17)

This verse from the Epistle of St. James should sound quite familiar to all Orthodox Christians since it is incorporated into the prayer which the priest reads before the ambo near the end of every Divine Liturgy.

As Creator, God can certainly be referred to as the “Father of lights” because He originated light by His Word: “Let there be light!” (Genesis 1:3). Sadly however, after the Fall, man’s heart and mind became darkened and people started to drift away from worshiping the One, True God and began worshiping light itself (i.e. the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, and Fire). Such practices continue amongst pagan cultures to this day. Yet thankfully we can dedifferentiate between the created and “Uncreated” light and know with all certainty that Christ, as our Lord and Savior, is the True Light of the world and those who follow Him will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life! (cf. John8:12)

Fr. John