The OA Promise (also known as Rosanne's Prayer):
I put my hand in yours, and together we can do what we could never do alone (Guild Wars2 Gold). 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.
I've been attending OA on and off for awhile. In more meetings than not, at the end everyone stands up, joins hands, and says the above words - frequently followed with "Keep coming back. It works if ya work it. And yer worth it."
I cringe whenever we come to the Roseanne's Prayer part - honestly, seriously, when YOU join hands, do YOU 'find love and understanding beyond your wildest dreams'? I understand the term 'fake it til ya make it' but the prayer just seems incredibly trite to me. Not authentic at all. I go to meetings for the honesty, in my sharing and that of others (Guild Wars2 Gold). Shall I speak up and say what I think/feel about it? Honestly, I'd like to just quietly leave before we get to that part, if others want to say it, fine - take what ya want and leave the rest, right?
I think it's only an Overeaters Anonymous thing, not used in other 12 step groups.
Anybody reading this in OA? I welcome your feedback.
Hi, I know you posted this ages ago, but thought I'd respond anyway. I'm in OA, too.
回复删除This prayer was written by the founder of OA, Roseanne, so no, I don't think it is used in other 12-step programs. In the meetings I attend, we use this prayer only occasionally. The person who is the speaker at the two meetings I attend gets to choose the closing prayer, usually from among the Serenity Prayer, this prayer, and the 3rd or 7th step prayers. You might want to shop for other meetings, if you have the opportunity, or suggest in a group conscience that the closing prayer be varied from week to week.
To me, the holding of hands in the prayer is simply a metaphor, not to be taken literally (though often we are literally holding hands when we say whatever closing prayer we use). The joining of hands is a representation of us joining together in the fellowship of OA. None of this has to deal with our eating disorder alone any more. And yes, I definitely have found love and understanding beyond my wildest dreams in the rooms of OA. I am a very different person from when I came in.
Hope you find that to be a useful perspective. Wishing you abstinence and recovery.