The Stools and Bottles meeting is a practical teaching of the first four Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, drawn directly from early A.A. experience and one of the most effective instructional tools ever used in the fellowship.

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This meeting is based on the Stool and Bottle Talk, developed by Ed Webster, the same early A.A. member who wrote The Little Red Book. His goal was simple: to make the Steps clear, visible, and usable for alcoholics who struggled with abstract explanations.

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The teaching uses two plain images.

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The three-legged stool represents Steps One, Two, and Three. Each leg is essential. Powerlessness. Reliance on a Power greater than self. Surrender. Remove one, and the stool cannot stand. Sobriety rests on balance, not effort.

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The bottles represent what is revealed in Step Four. They show how self-centeredness expresses itself through resentment, fear, dishonesty, pride, and other defects that block recovery. These are not ideas to debate. They are conditions to be seen.

This approach proved so effective that groups repeatedly asked Ed Webster to present it. Members reported that seeing the Steps this way improved their daily use, not just their understanding. Because he could not travel everywhere, the talk was eventually put into written form so it could be shared widely.

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This meeting exists to use that teaching, not admire it.

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A central part of the meeting is the 31 daily reflections included in Stools and Bottles. These readings were written to support daily spiritual practice. They address common A.A. problems such as restlessness, emotional imbalance, fear, self-will, and dependence on people or circumstances.

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The reflections are meant for quiet thought and prayer. They remind us that sobriety is not maintained by memory, but by attention. Recovery lives in what is practiced daily.

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In this meeting, we study the stool and bottle teaching carefully and apply it directly to life. The focus is not on performance or emotional display. The focus is clarity, honesty, and application.