A day without structure is a day surrendered to chaos. If you wake up and immediately let the demands of the world—your email, the news, the urgent crises of others—dictate your attention, you will spend the next sixteen hours playing defense. You will be reactive, driven by your passions and the whims of circumstance.
The ancient Stoics understood that the human mind is leaky. It constantly loses its focus, its resolve, and its peace. To combat this, they developed a rigid daily liturgy: The Morning and Evening Review. They believed that a man must construct strong walls at the beginning and the end of his day. These “bookends” keep the day from unraveling. For the Christian Stoic, this practice is not just about psychological focus; it is a vital rhythm of communion, spiritual warfare, and repentance.
In this article, we will take the Stoic practice of the daily review and transform it into a Christian devotion—a practical framework for starting the day in armor and ending the day in grace.
The Wisdom of the Ancients
Long before the Stoics, the Greek philosopher Pythagoras instructed his students never to let sleep close their eyes before asking three questions about the day:
Where did I go wrong?
What did I do right?
What duty did I leave undone?
The Stoics adopted this wholeheartedly. Marcus Aurelius used his mornings to prepare for the worst: “When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly.”[1] Seneca used his evenings to audit his soul: “I pass the whole day in review before myself, and repeat all that I have said and done: I conceal nothing from myself, and omit nothing”[2]
It is a powerful system. But as we have seen throughout this series, the Stoic system is a closed loop. The philosopher prepares himself with his own strength, and he forgives himself with his own authority.
The Christian Stoic must open the loop to heaven.
The Morning Advance: Putting on the Armor
The morning is not for auditing; the morning is for arming. The Stoic calls this premeditatio—thinking ahead. The Christian calls it preparation for battle.
Before you look at a screen, before you engage with the world, you must engage with the Father. The Morning Review consists of three distinct movements:
1. Adoration (The View from Above)
The Stoic tries to shrink his problems by thinking about the vastness of the universe. The Christian shrinks his problems by gazing at the vastness of God.
- The Practice: Begin with the Psalms. Acknowledge that you are a creature and He is the Creator. Remind yourself that God is already seated on His throne, sovereignly ruling the universe before you have even had your coffee.
2. Anticipation (Premeditatio Malorum)
This is where we borrow heavily from Marcus Aurelius, but redeem the practice. You must anticipate the friction of the day, but not to build a cynical wall against people. You anticipate friction so you can deploy grace.
- The Practice: Look at your calendar. Where will you be tested today? Is there a difficult meeting? A frustrating coworker? A demanding task? Name the anticipated trial. Then, pre-decide how the Spirit would have you respond. “Lord, when this meeting gets tense at 2:00 PM, give me the grace to hold my tongue and speak with gentleness.”
3. The Commission
The Stoic ends his morning routine by resolving to obey “Nature.” The Christian ends by receiving his marching orders from the King.
- The Practice: Identify your primary duties for the day—your vocation as a husband, father, worker, or friend. Ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit to execute these specific duties with excellence, working heartily as unto the Lord (Col. 3:23).
The Evening Retreat: The Examen of Grace
If the morning is for arming, the evening is for auditing and resting.
By the time the sun goes down, you have taken hits. You have sinned. You have experienced mercies you barely noticed. If you simply collapse into bed watching television, the spiritual residue of the day will harden on your soul.
The Evening Review (often called the Examen in Christian tradition) is the spiritual shower before sleep.
1. Gratitude (Counting the Mercies)
The human brain is wired to remember threats and failures, not blessings. We must force our minds to recognize the goodness of God.
- The Practice: Review the day chronologically, from waking to the present moment. Look for the fingerprints of God. Did you have a good meal? A safe commute? A moment of laughter with your child? Name three specific things and thank the Father for them.
2. The Audit (Confession)
Here we adopt Pythagoras and Seneca, but we bring our failures to the Cross. We do not make excuses, and we do not try to “forgive ourselves.”
- The Practice: Where did I snap at my wife? Where did I waste my employer’s time? Where did I entertain lust or pride? Name the sin specifically to God. Do not generalize. Then, explicitly apply the blood of Christ to it. Claim the promise of 1 John 1:9. Leave the sin at the cross; do not carry it into your bed.
3. Relinquishment (The Mini-Death of Sleep)
Sleep is an act of theology. The Stoic goes to sleep proud of his endurance. The Christian goes to sleep as an act of profound trust, acknowledging his own limits.
- The Practice: Remind yourself that you are not the General Manager of the universe. He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:4). You can close your eyes because God does not. Release your unfinished tasks, your anxieties, and your loved ones into His hands.
Conclusion: The Architecture of a Faithful Life
You do not drift into holiness. You do not accidentally become a man of self-control, deep joy, and unshakeable peace. These things are the fruit of the Spirit, but the Spirit often uses the trellis of discipline to grow the vine of character.
The Morning and Evening Review is that trellis.
It takes only ten minutes in the morning and ten minutes at night. You can do it in a journal (as discussed in our last article), in your favorite chair, or on your commute. But you must do it.
Set the bookends. Start the day looking at the King; end the day resting in His grace.
In our next article, we will tackle the final and most intimidating “indifferent” in the Stoic and Christian worldview: the practice of Memento Mori and how the Christian man prepares for his own death.
Key Terms
- Liturgy: A customary repertoire of ideas, phrases, or rituals. In this context, it refers to a structured, repeatable mental and spiritual routine that shapes the heart.
- Premeditatio Malorum: (Latin, “Premeditation of evils”). The morning practice of anticipating the day’s difficulties, frustrations, and temptations in advance, so as not to be caught off guard by the flesh.
- The Examen: An ancient Christian devotional practice involving a prayerful reflection on the events of the day in order to detect God’s presence, discern His direction, and confess sin.
- Relinquishment: The conscious, prayerful act of letting go of control, anxieties, and unfinished duties at the end of the day, trusting in the sovereignty of God who does not sleep.
[1] Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, trans. Gregory Hays (The Modern Library, 2002), 2.1.
[2] Seneca, Of Anger, trans. Aubrey Stewart (George Bell and Sons, 1900). 3.36