Likely the most influential book I have read in my lifetime is The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann. In his book, Brueggemann examines the practices of Moses and Jeremiah, while warning us of a “royal consciousness” that seeks to dominate our culture—a mindset designed to keep us busy, anxious, fearful, and disconnected.
Royal consciousness thrives on control, authority, and power. It insists that well-being, wealth, and security come only from order and predictability, attainable through absolute loyalty to its regime of geniuses and experts. This mindset positions itself as the only power capable of solving your troubles and concerns. Meanwhile it numbs society with endless distractions, pandering fear-stories, creating constant busyness, and fuels anxiety…while selling you the solutions to your anxiety – all while insisting that some invisible boogyman is the real problem and that they will soon be dealt with, strongly.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because there really is nothing new under the sun – just recycled political powers, empires, pharaohs, caesars, and authoritarian wannabes of the royal consciousness. And, today it’s not just politicians, religious leaders, global corporations, and the oligarch class – the royal consciousness is a trap for everyone. It seeps down through society and into the local level of individual consciousness…convincing anyone enticed by the entitlement of personal offense, or with a wee bit of authority to line up in service to the royal consciousness. “Don’t you know, this is the way things get done!”
Occasionally, we awaken from the numbing serum of the royal consciousness. We realize its promises of safety, well-being, and fulfillment have failed…having never been made in good faith anyway. And we begin to wonder, is there another way?
And that single pondering question is the beginning…a work of imagination that serves as an act of resistance to the royal consciousness. Imagination is one thing that royal consciousness can’t control…but boy, does it ever try! This is why every authoritarian regime is frightened by the artist, the questioner, the protester, and the poets – those who dare to imagine something outside of the vision being cast by the royal consciousness.
Brueggemann is rightly recognized for his call to pastors and leaders to engage in the courageous work of public advocacy (and…do we ever need it today!). Yet, I am also learning to understand his call as one that is equally personal—a inner work that unfolds within every person just as much as it does in public life. In this sense, contemplative science and the contemplative spiritual traditions echo a similar truth: that deep inner awareness is foundational to meaningful outer action.
Intentional forming one’s imagination – what can also be called the contemplative consciousness – offers us an alternative; a spacious, grounded way of seeing and being in the world. Instead of reacting out of fear, control, or survival…contemplative awareness invites you to slow down, breathe deeply, discern, and trust the reality of something more life-giving than the royal consciousness.
Where royal consciousness numbs, contemplation awakens. Instead of clinging to old systems and broken scripts, contemplative consciousness gives us the courage to imagine a better way — a way of being shaped by love, mercy, gratitude, and deep connection.
And just as Brueggemann reminds us, that change starts with an act of imagination. Before we can build a better world, we must be able to imagine one. And before we can form a deeper inner life, we must learn to quiet the noise of the royal consciousness.
Choosing to nurture a contemplative consciousness doesn’t mean ignoring reality or pretending everything is ok. Instead, it means learning to embrace a clearer, more free, and more courageous way of seeing and engaging the world—one that refuses to accept anxiety, fear, and control as the only options.
So, let’s resist the airy claims of royal consciousness by deeply forming a contemplative consciousness—the inner strength to imagine, hope, be fully present, and love more deeply and boldly than we ever thought possible. And as it starts within you…it can flow into the every aspect of the world.
Shane Ash 