I put my hand in yours, and together we can do
what we could never do alone.
No longer is there a sense of hopelessness,
no longer must we each depend
upon our own unsteady willpower.
We are all together now,
reaching out our hands for power and
strength greater than ours, and as we join hands,
we find love and understanding
beyond our wildest dreams.
The OA Promise, which begins “I put my hand in yours,” first appeared in 1968 in the booklet titled I Put My Hand in Yours. Written during a time of intense growth in the Fellowship, the booklet was essentially the first OA handbook to help people start and keep meetings going in their areas.