Lesson 183: “I call upon God’s Name and on my own.”

To say, “I call upon God’s Name and on my own,” is to remember that God’s Name and your true Name are the same. This lesson is not about calling on a distant Deity to come help a separate little self. It is about remembering that what you truly are has never been separate from God at all.

The ego hears this and trembles, because if this is true, then the entire story of a separate, vulnerable, guilty self is not.

Let’s walk gently through what this lesson is really saying, how it touches your daily life, why it can feel difficult, and how to practice it today.

1. The Core Teaching

Your true Name

In the Course, a “name” is not just a label; it is an identity. When the lesson says you call upon God’s Name and your own, it means:

• God’s Being and your being are of one nature.
• To remember God is to remember yourself.
• To forget God is to forget who you are.

The ego has given you many other “names”:

• “The one who was abandoned”
• “The one who failed”
• “The one who must be strong”
• “The one who is sick”
• “The one who is guilty”
• “The one who is not enough”

These are all identities built on the assumption that you are a separate body, living in a dangerous world, trying to survive and be worthy. The Course calls this a dream. Not because your experiences don’t feel real, but because they are not based on the truth of what you are.

Your true Name is something like:

• Innocent
• Holy
• Loved
• Safe
• Whole
• One with God

This is not a poetic compliment; it is a metaphysical statement. If you were created by God, and God is pure Love, then your reality cannot be something unlike Love. You can dream that you are something else, but you cannot become something else.

What the ego is trying to hide

The ego’s survival depends on you believing you are separate and alone. So it hides:

1. *Your innocence*

If you knew you were guiltless, the ego’s entire system of fear and defense would collapse. So it keeps replaying past mistakes, shame, and regret as proof that you are not worthy of God.

2. *Your safety in God*

If you knew you are eternally safe in God, the ego’s constant anxiety would lose its purpose. So it points to the body, to the news, to the future, saying, “Look how unsafe you are.”

3. *Your unity with all life*

If you knew you are one with all your brothers and sisters, the ego’s specialness, competition, and grievances would evaporate. So it tells you that others are your rivals, threats, or judges.

4. *Your power to choose again*

The ego wants you to feel trapped. It hides the simple power of your mind to choose a different Teacher—the Holy Spirit—right now.

What the Holy Spirit is revealing

The Holy Spirit, the Voice for God in your mind, uses this lesson to reveal:

1. *Your Name is shared with God*

Not that you are God as a separate being, but that your true Self is an extension of God’s Love. What is true of God—Love, innocence, peace—is true of you in your reality.

2. *Calling on God is calling on your Self*

You are not begging a distant power to come rescue you. You are turning inward to the quiet center where you and God are already joined.

3. *You have never left your Source*

The separation is a dream of the mind, not a fact. You can awaken by choosing to remember your true Name instead of the ego’s many false names.

4. *Your brothers share your Name*

Everyone you meet is, in truth, the same holy Son of God. Their behavior may express fear, but their identity remains Love.

2. Applied to Daily Life

Relationships

Suppose you’re in a tense relationship—partner, family, or friend. The ego says:

• “I am the one who is right.”
• “I am the one who is hurt.”
• “I am the one who must protect myself.”

In a quiet moment, you practice this lesson:

• “I call upon God’s Name and on my own.”
• “My true Name is not ‘the hurt one.’ My true Name is Love.”
• “Their true Name is not ‘the guilty one.’ Their true Name is Love.”

You may still need to set boundaries or have honest conversations, but you do so from a different identity. Instead of, “I must win,” it becomes, “I want to remember who we both are.”

Gradually, you notice:

• Less defensiveness
• More listening
• More willingness to forgive
• Less need to be right

Work and career

At work, the ego names you:

• “The one who must prove their worth”
• “The one who might fail”
• “The one who is behind”

Anxiety rises: deadlines, performance, money, recognition.

Pause and remember:

• “I call upon God’s Name and on my own.”
• “My worth is established by God. It is not at the mercy of this job.”
• “I can bring peace into this task, instead of seeking peace from its outcome.”

You still do your work, but now:

• You are less driven by fear.
• You are more open to guidance, creativity, and helpfulness.
• You are less threatened by criticism, because it no longer defines your identity.

Illness and the body

When the body is in pain or illness, the ego says:

• “I am this body.”
• “I am at the mercy of this condition.”
• “I am broken.”

This lesson does not ask you to deny symptoms or avoid care. It invites you to hold a deeper truth alongside them:

• “I call upon God’s Name and on my own.”
• “My true Self cannot be sick, because it is not a body.”
• “I am Spirit, held in God. This body is a temporary learning device, not my identity.”

You might still take medicine, see doctors, rest. But your inner posture shifts from panic to trust. You allow the Holy Spirit to use even this situation to teach you peace, patience, and gentleness with yourself.

Anxiety and daily stress

Traffic, bills, news, family demands—stress piles up. The ego says:

• “I am overwhelmed.”
• “I am alone in this.”
• “I must control everything.”

In the midst of this, you can silently repeat:

• “I call upon God’s Name and on my own.”
• “I am not alone. I am not this stressed identity. I am God’s holy Son, still as He created me.”

You may notice:

• A softening in the chest
• A slight slowing of breath
• A tiny gap between you and the stress-story

That gap is the Holy Spirit’s opening. In it, you can be guided to the next kind, sane step.

3. Overcoming Resistance

Why this lesson can feel difficult

1. *Fear of losing individuality*

The ego whispers, “If my Name is the same as God’s, I will disappear. I will be nothing.”

In truth, you do not lose anything real. You lose only a fearful self-concept and gain awareness of your limitless Self.

2. *Attachment to specialness*

The ego loves to be “special”—especially wronged, especially talented, especially wounded, especially spiritual.

To share God’s Name is to share equality with all. No one is above or below you. This can feel like a loss until you taste the peace of true equality.

3. *Guilt and unworthiness*

Many feel, “I am not worthy to share God’s Name.”

The Course gently says: you are not worthy because of what you’ve done; you are worthy because of what you are. Nothing you have done has changed your creation.

4. *Fear of trust*

To call on God’s Name is to trust a Love you cannot control. The ego prefers a fearful world it thinks it can manage to a loving Reality it cannot control.

So it resists with distraction, doubt, and forgetfulness.

Meeting the resistance gently

• You do not need to force belief.

You only need a little willingness to say the words and let their meaning grow over time.

• You can say to the Holy Spirit:

“I am afraid of this lesson. Please be with me in my fear. I am willing to be shown another way.”

• You are not being asked to give up your life, but to let your life be reinterpreted—from fear to love, from guilt to innocence.

4. Today’s Practice (Step-by-Step)

Here is a simple way to practice Lesson 183 today:

1. Preparation (5 minutes if possible)

• Sit quietly, eyes closed if comfortable.
• Take a few gentle breaths.
• Say slowly, with as much sincerity as you can:
• “I call upon God’s Name and on my own.”
• “God’s Name is my inheritance.”
• “I will remember who I am.”

2. Let the words sink in

• Repeat softly in your mind:

“God’s Name and my own are one.”

“When I call on God, I call on my Self.”

• You don’t have to “make” anything happen. Just let the words be like a soft rain on a thirsty ground.

3. Allow images to pass

• Thoughts will come: worries, plans, memories.
• Each time you notice you’re lost in them, gently return to:
• “I call upon God’s Name and on my own.”

• Think of this as turning away from the ego’s many names and turning toward your one true Name.

4. Short practice throughout the day

Use the lesson as a quiet anchor in different situations:

• When you feel stressed:

“I call upon God’s Name and on my own. I am not this stress.”

• When you feel hurt by someone:

“I call upon God’s Name and on my own. Their true Name and mine are the same.”

• When you feel anxious or afraid:

“I call upon God’s Name and on my own. In God, I am safe.”

Even a few seconds of sincere repetition can shift the tone of your mind.

5. Before sleep

• As you lie down, say inwardly:

“Father, I call upon Your Name and my own. Let me remember You in my dreams.”

This invites the Holy Spirit to gently work in your mind even as you rest.

5. Comparable ACIM Lessons

Several lessons are closely related:

• **Lesson 35: “My mind is part of God’s. I am very holy.”**

Establishes that your mind is not separate from God’s Mind.

• **Lesson 61: “I am the light of the world.”**

Begins to reclaim your true identity as something far greater than the ego’s story.

• **Lesson 64: “Let me not forget my function.”**

Your function is forgiveness and remembering your Self, which is the same as remembering God.

• **Lesson 191: “I am the holy Son of God Himself.”**

States directly what Lesson 183 is leading you toward: your true Name is the holy Son of God.

• **Lesson 224: “God is my Father, and He loves His Son.”**

Reinforces your shared identity with God as His beloved Child.

All of these lessons work together to undo the false names the ego has given you and restore to your awareness the one Name you share with God.

6. Closing Thought

Each time you say, “I call upon God’s Name and on my own,” you are taking a small, quiet step out of fear and back into Truth. You do not have to feel holy to be holy. You only need a little willingness to remember.

Let today be gentle. Let the words rest lightly in your mind. You are not trying to become something; you are allowing yourself to remember what you have always been.