It is said that contemporary human beings no longer seek a single truth revealed by institutions based on fixed dogma. This shift may not only be due to the scandals of abuse, corruption, and cover ups that damaged their public image, but to multiple other factors.

From the perspective of an age of aquarius and the vibrational shift of humanity and the planet, everything corresponds to the end of the cycle for those religious institutions. Pyramidal structures are collapsing, knowledge is being decentralized, and authority is becoming horizontal. If a human being discovers they can access the divine by themselves, no institution can govern them. The self is remembering that the sacred lives in the direct experience of existing…

But this structural fracture is not exclusive to this new century. The Sleepy Congregation, originally engraved by William Hogarth in 1736, portrays a deceptively simple scene: worshipers dozing off during a sermon, bodies present, but consciousness absent. The work functions as social satire, but also maybe as a spiritual x-ray. The congregation is not awake, not because they lack faith, but because institutional discourse has ceased to touch the real experience of the spirit. The rite continues, but the meaning has been hollowed out.

In mid-18th century England, the Anglican church was going through a period of "spiritual stagnation." Many clergymen of the time focused more on logic, civic duty, and the monotonous reading of dense sermons than on spiritual fervor. Hogarth acted as an artistic variable, using these works so that the viewer would see their own vices reflected and delve deeper into the act of reflection:

The clergyman reads a passage from St. Matthew: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” a masterstroke of irony. It warns of the danger of turning beliefs and faith into empty routines. When the delivery of the message loses its intention and purpose, the receiver disconnects.

Today, we can see "sleepy congregations" in many fields: in politics, in education, or on social media, where people consume content in a passive and lethargic way, devoid of a critical spirit. Thus, these artistic satires cease to be merely a critique of the enlightenment and become a mirror of the modern present: a humanity that can no longer remain asleep in the face of discourses that do not vibrate with its inner experience.