Today’s reflection from A Course in Miracles is Lesson 184: “The Name of God is My Inheritance.”This lesson invites us to realize a paradox: that the very act of naming—something we rely on to understand the world—also separates us from it.

The lesson begins by stating that we live by symbols. Everything we know, we’ve named. We say, “That’s a tree,” and in doing so, we carve it out from the wholeness of existence. We make it separate. This is how our minds work: we conceptualize, we label, and only then do we believe we understand. But this understanding is built on a foundation of separation. That is why its called an illusion.

To understand anything, we must first make it “not us.” We name it, define it, and place it outside ourselves. This is the paradox: our entire framework for understanding is based on separation. And yet, reality—true reality—is oneness. Oneness cannot be named, cannot be divided, cannot be understood in parts. Oneness has only one name: God. And that name is also our inheritance.

In earlier lessons, we were taught to meditate on God’s name. But if God has no name, why do we need one? Because naming helps us focus. It gives our minds something to hold onto. But in naming God, we also say, “God is not me.” We reinforce the illusion of separation. This is the paradox at the heart of spiritual practice: we need to use separation to transcend separation.

The lesson acknowledges that we still need names—for now. Without them, we can’t reflect, we can’t communicate, we can’t even begin to question the illusion of separation. But the goal is to train in oneness. To go beyond names. To sit in meditation and let go of all symbols. To return to the truth that we are not separate from God, from each other, or from anything. Everything is you. Everything is us.

This lesson is a call to remember that separation is not real. It’s a tool we use to navigate the world, but it’s not the truth. The truth is love. The truth is unity. The truth is that the name of God is also your name, and mine, and the name of everything. Call it what you will—Oneness, I Am, Presence—but know that it is yours. It is your inheritance.

Have a beautiful day.

Bless you all.

Get future posts as mail

Get full access to Reflections from A Course in Miracles at dailyacim.substack.com/subscribe