I slept the sleep of reason

My freshman year at BYU was one of discovery and enlightenment. I learned about our forefathers in American Heritage. I learned how to write a persuasive essay in writing 150, and how much horse power it would take to push water up a hill at 20 meters/second. However, among all this learning, my favorite class was by far an arts class. We studied art from the baroque master Rembrandt all to way down to Warhol. In the middle, we learned about Goya, and his piece: "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters".

From my first impression, I thought that the artist depicted was troubled by reason. The owls: a sign of intelligence, and them plaguing the artist by night. I imagined that Goya was showing the troubled calling of artists, philosophers and those he thought had reason. At this time, I set up reason as the enemy, the rallying cry of the secular humanists, the shield of atheists and all those who would wish to do the church harm. At this time, my brother was just beginning to research the church from a more secular perspective. I thought he was relying too much on reason, and not enough on the evidence of the goodness of his life, the feelings of his heart. I was worried when he reluctantly submitted mission papers, and distraught when he struggled at the MTC and into the field. I would go to bed every Monday night after  emailing him and sleep the sleep of reason. The monsters of doubt and despair would flit through my head, matching the mosquitoes in veracity of attacks. How could he doubt what was clearly so good for me and our family, how can I help if I am thousands of miles away, how can I relieve his suffering?

Now, with an enlarged perspective, I read Goya's caption differently, "the sleep of reason produces Monsters", but as he writes, "Imagination abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters; united with her, she is the mother of the arts and source of their wonders." Looking at the painting again, I see that both reason and the artist are asleep. Without reason, we are plagued with the monsters of superstition and dogma. I realized that I need to combine both reason with my imagination and faith in order to produce the "wonders" of a happy life. I have slept the sleep of reason, and let reason sleep, but now I sleep no longer.

Painting: Francisco Goya, "The sleep of Reason Produces Monsters":

• Rights: Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust, Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
• External Link: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art