There is no good rhyme or reason to lay out matters of faith according to the alphabet, especially when it comes to prayer. There are no easy ABCs when it comes to following God and God's ways. The reason this present volume follows the alphabet is to prod the reader to think what item might come next and, then, after the last letter is added, to consider alternatives to the present list.

The list contains several groupings. The first and largest group concerns the substance and practice of biblical faith. A second group invites critical thinking about social power whereby we may reflect on how we employ our best reasoning to avoid distorted ideology or self-illusion, with two prayers addressing Brueggemann's own church tradition. Eight of the prayers center on names -- four of which are about contemporary scholars who have greatly impacted Brueggemann for good, and four characters in the biblical narrative -- all of whom model for good or for ill the faith to be embraced.

It is hoped that this alphabetic listing will inspire the work of constructing like "alphabets" of our most treasured and our most problematic legacy.