The necessary context of prophetic preaching Walter Brueggemann argues is a contestation between narratives: the dominant narrative of our time which promoting self-sufficiency at the national level (through militarism) & the personal (through consumerism) & the countervailing narrative of a world claimed by a God who is gracious uncompromisingand real. In previous work Brueggemann has pointed us again & again to the indispensability of imagination. Here he writes for those who bear responsibility for regular proclamation in communities of faith describing the discipline of a prophetic imagination that is unflinchingly realistic & unwaveringly candid.