If you are looking for a concise volume to introduce you to Isaac Penington’s life and thought, while providing meditative exercises for incorporating Penington’s insights into your spiritual practice, this recent offering from Christian Alternative Books’ Quaker Quicks series is for you. Life-long friend, Ruth Tod, provides a brief history of the chaotic times out which Quakerism emerged and which shaped Penington’s core beliefs. She then excerpts his writings, sharing the rich wisdom that has influenced her own worship, and concludes with an extensive “Reflections” section. It is the final aspect of the book that is distinctive. It is where the “exploring” occurs. As Tod states, “The third part consists of my personal reflections on his work followed by exercises that can deepen our experience. My hope is that you too will discover the gifts that Penington offers us and find yet more wisdom, for the Quaker way is to keep learning and sharing.” For a reader wishing to make a deeper dive into the facts of Penington’s life, this might be disappointing, but such a thorough biographical portrait is not what Tod intends. Rather, she offers a meditation guide centering on the accessibility and richness of Penington’s writings for a modern audience. She launches the “Reflections” section with this essential, Penington quotation: Wait to know the springings of life... sink very low and become very little; yea know no power to believe, to act or suffer anything for God but as it is given thee by the springing grace, virtue and life of Jesus. For grace is a spiritual, inward thing, an holy seed and is sown by God and springs up in the heart. People have a notion of grace but know not the thing. Do not thou matter the notion, but feel the thing, and know thy heart more and more ploughed up by the Lord, that his seeds of grace may grow up in thee more and more, and thou mayst daily feel thy heart as a garden, more and more enclosed, watered, dressed and walked in by him. Then, for each of six different themes (The Seed Within, Gifts and Community, Rooftop View, The Wisdom of Our Hearts, The Way of Peace, and The Garden) Tod provides her own narrative interpretations, as well as “Exercises and Questions” to deepen the reader’s personal experiences. These suggested activities all push deep, rather than merely skimming the surface, and seem inspired, somewhat, by Tod’s experience as a teacher of the Alexander Technique, a non-spiritual, movement method used to relieve pain and break damaging physical habits. While practicing the technique Tod reports that she encountered “a deep stillness that I had only paid lip service to before. This experience took me to a deeper place, to a connection with the life force within all.” The reader who, like Ruth Tod, is able to fully engage in these meditative activities will harvest the greatest benefits from Exploring Isaac Pennington. ~ Donn Weinholtz - Emeritus professor of educational leadership at the University of Hartford

Here in this most wonderful addition to the quite brilliant Quaker Quick series, as a whole, author Ruth Tod reveals to us the life and work of this 17th-century Quaker, Isaac Penington, in a way that her prose really brings the man to life on the pages. Diving deep into his writings and astutely mirroring how they can still be drawn on today within our spiritual lives, the way Ruth details everything is rather enriching to the soul. For, and much like other Quaker leaders, Isaac Penington discovered that silently waiting on the divine helps us better understand ourselves and others so that we are more able to respond to life’s challenges with openness, confidence and courage. Thus, in this book, author Ruth not only draws upon Penington’s letters and pamphlets to build a bridge between his time and ours, she also uses examples and interpretations of his writings to explore the beliefs and habits that shape our lives. ~ Exclusive Magazine, Review

Ruth Tod offers us a fascinating window onto the life and spirituality of Isaac Pennington. She demonstrates that, despite the hundreds of years that separate us from him, Penington’s writings remain a vital source of inspiration and challenge for Friends today. Like all good introductions, this book whets the appetite, and readers will be left wanting more. Stuart Masters, ~ Stuart Masters, Tutor at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre

With remarkable clarity and profound insight, the writings of Isaac Penington continue to speak to us in our day, just as they did among the first generation of Friends. As a standout leader within British society and among Quakers, Penington wrote about his life-changing experiences with Christ, who like a powerful spiritual seed within bears fruit, producing other seeds and bountiful harvests of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and other fruits of the Spirit. In this accessible book, Ruth Tod brings readers into Penington's way of the heart, sure to bring forth yields of wisdom, peace, and love in the gardens of our lives, today. ~ Paul N. Anderson, Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies, George Fox University

Isaac Penington is one of the most inspiring and thoughtful leaders in the beginnings of Quakerism in England. Ruth Tod engages him personally. While providing information about him, his circumstances, and the origins of the Religious Society of Friends, she shares the intertwining of her life with him as spiritual mentor in ways that are endearing and edifying. As she presents his view of silence, she shares her own meditative going deep into silence, becoming immersed in his images and metaphors, and seeking to understand their impact on her heart. She concludes her book with helpful suggested exercises that are about feeling, noticing, and experiencing. ~ R. Melvin Keiser, Professor Emeritus of Religious and Interdisciplinary Studies, Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina. , Author, with Rosemary Moore, of Knowing the Mystery of Life Within: Selected Writings of Isaac Penington in Their Historical and Theological Context (London: Quaker Books, 2005).

In this great new addition to the Quaker Quick series, Ruth Tod, lifelong Friend, is drawing our attention to the life and work of 17th century Quaker, Isaac Penington. She encourages us to look at his writings and thoughts meditatively and to draw them deeply into our own spiritual lives, now, in the 21st century. Ruth stresses how important it is for us to feel inspired and encouraged by Penington's beautiful words and ideas, and to see how they can enrich us now in practical as well as spiritual ways. ~ Joanna Godfrey Wood, author of In STEP with Quaker Testimony and In Search of Stillness

Ruth Tod offers us insights into Isaac Penington's experience, ideas and faith that springs from a deep sense of spiritual and emotional affinity with him. She paints a vivid portrait of a Friend who very early on, brought colour, warmth, heart and gentleness into the Quaker understanding of the divine, using poetic images that speak to us and uplift us to this day, more powerfully than any amount of formal theology. 'His words sing to me', Ruth tells us and she unpacks those words with empathy that makes them sing to us too. ~ Stevie Krayer, Quaker and Poet

In this book, Ruth provides an embodied and personal reading of the rich heritage of Isaac Penington's life and writings, It reaches out to those who know only a little, as well to know who know a lot about his life and spirituality. Whilst it nourishes the mind, it also invites us to connect with the body as the source of learning and awareness. It offers to assist us, through carefully selected passages and practices, to find first hand experience of the deep connection with the universal part of ourselves. ~ Lina Jordan, Quaker and Psychotherapist