From Beginning to End:: The Rituals of Our Lives

This book has so much hope, and exudes respect for human experience. In essence, rituals are spiritual and they are found all the time in the lives we lead. Until we recognize this we will be less aware of the spiritual magic of being alive each and every day. Fulghum illuminates this page by page. He has a very philosophical view of life that is quite contagious. His presentation style is much like Garrison Keillor in the audiotape of this book I listened to. Soothing, but it jolts us awake with spiritual truths time and time again. I also like his sense of humor and his accepting of life and death. You will respect your own life more after reading this book. Jeffrey McAndrewauthor of "Our Brown-Eyed Boy"

The only parts of my own wedding I regret are those I didn't personalize enough; I wish this book had been around back when I was doing my planning. Fulghum doesn't provide concrete suggestions, so much as great stories, illustrations of the impact of ritual on our lives (in which he stands firmly with Jossepoh Campbell) and a wonderfully outrageous attitude toward making those rituals fit us, not the other way around. You won't take away exact ideas of what to do for your own ritual, but you will get the inspiration to make your own ritual fit you as perfectly as some of the ones described fit their participants.On another level, the book is also worth reading just for the stories. As other readers have commented, the one about the second wedding is just beautiful.

As someone who is a spiritual "searcher", I found this book acknowledged my basic need for rituals despite not belonging to a formal religious group. It talks about the existence of rituals in our lives and the need to acknowledge milestones that we all pass by. Fulghum has made all rituals accessible everyone, even those once thought to be possessed by formal religions. He gives us permission to celebrate even if we don't agree with the doctrines of man made religions. Robert Fulghum has given spirituality back to the people!

Fulghum usually has written thought provoking stories that were entertaining. From the beginning of this book, one can see that Fulghum has gotten serious about provoking thought about existence and life in general. This book takes reading and re-reading and it may change your life and the way you look at your place on earth.

This book differs from Fulghum's other excellent works in actually having a subject, and a fairly serious one at that. I therefore approached it with apprehension, afraid that this novelty might mar his jovial air and amusing style. I need not have worried: his love of life is as contagious as ever, and his church background (one of his many varied backgrounds!) offers fresh insights into the scenes none of us can really avoid. From the gruesome act of waking up in the morning, through weddings, and funerals, to all the little things in life we never seem to notice, Fulghum continually points out the lighter side of everything, and usually one we wouldn't think of ourselves. This book, like any other Fulghum work I've read, made me smile the whole time I was reading it, and for a good while afterwards, and probably even raised my average amount of smiling per day for ever after. It comes highly recommended.