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It feels strange holding a cup of coffee in my hand today, just like it felt strange eating pizza for lunch over the weekend. Everything looks normal, but deep down I know it is not. I have just spent a month refraining from food and drink and trying constantly to keep God in my mind, and I am still in that mindset.

But how long will this last before I fade back into my old routines, where the responsibilities of daily life overwhelm that call from the Divine in the background?

As I've shared with you this month, Ramadan has many facets that help to enrich the lives of Muslims -- spiritual, social, charitable, and physical. The great struggle post-Ramadan is figuring out how to extend those benefits through until the next Ramadan. There's no one, universal way to do it. Each person needs to come to their own conclusion as to what works best for them. That is my task for the weeks ahead.

I hope that readers now get a sense of what Ramadan means for Muslims, and I encourage those of other faiths to borrow liberally from our traditions in ways that you feel might strengthen your own faith. I especially recommend looking back into your own fasting traditions -- nearly every religion has one -- and explore ways you can enrich your life with that. The framework of fasting is, I believe, an effective counterbalance to a modern society that is too often based on self-indulgence.

Why is it that Eid is a three-day affair? Perhaps it is because Muslims (despite their best efforts) end up celebrating it on different days. For those Muslims who follow the lead of Saudi Arabia (as some of the more conservative mosques do), the Eid celebration is today. However, for most Muslims in America who follow either the calculation or the moon sighting methods, Eid is tomorrow, on Saturday. A weekend Eid is something special -- we don't have to take time out of work or pull our kids out of school for the day -- and I intend to make the most of it.

If you're not used to seeing Muslims, Eid is the day where you are most likely to see groups of them. Unfortunately (and we're working on this), it will probably be because the parking situation around the location of Eid prayer is horrific, or because all the cabs seem to have disappeared off the streets. With the Muslim population in America growing as fast as it is, the average mosque is not big enough to accommodate all the worshippers, so larger venues are booked, often with many local mosque communities joining forces.

I've been to Eid services in convention centers, football and basketball stadiums, concert halls, and large city parks. Despite the larger size of the venue, multiple prayers (usually at 8 am and 10 am) are needed. Even in small towns, thousands of Muslims show up, because many otherwise non-observant Muslims show up for Eid. Here in Austin, we expect around 10,000 worshippers, and I've been to prayers in larger cities where the numbers approach 75,000. You'll probably see footage of your local Eid celebrations on the evening news.

Muslims have spent two-thirds of the month of Ramadan in physical restraint and silent contemplation, and it is in the last third - the last ten days of Ramadan - where the remembrance of God approaches its peak. It is during this time that the practice of fasting and prayer is perfected, and the uninhibited communication between God and His servants takes place. This is the time for the most heartfelt prayers for forgiveness, for deep soul-searching, making amends to friends, and spending freely in charity.

One of the mysteries of this part of the month is Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Power/Majesty/Destiny (translation varies), which is said to occur on one of the odd numbered days during the last third of the month. It is on this night -- which the Qur'an says is better than 1,000 months -- where sincere prayer wipes one's sins clean. It is also during this period when it is encouraged to spend time in spiritual retreat (i'tikaf in Arabic), praying throughout the night.

Fasting gets all the attention during Ramadan, but it is in fact only a warmup for the real task of focused worship. For many Muslims, the true focal point of Ramadan is the optional evening tarawih prayer (at least for Sunni Muslims like myself - Shia Muslims generally do not offer them). When asked what the most meaningful part of Ramadan is, many of my friends cite the congregational tarawih prayer.

During the obligatory five daily prayers, Muslims recite various verses of the Qur'an. Tarawih prayers are extended nighttime versions of these prayers, after dinner and the last obligatory prayer of the evening, during which the imam reads a full 1/30th (a juz in Arabic) of the Qur'an, with the goal of finishing the entire book during Ramadan.

Here in America, imams with the most eloquent Arabic pronunciation are sought out for the largest congregations, and mosques are nearly as overflowing as they are during the Friday prayer. As tarawih is between 2-5 times as long as the longest obligatory prayer, it can take up to an hour to complete (most of it standing), making it somewhat of a physical challenge for an already fast-weary body.

One of the disadvantages (depending on how you look at it) of basing Muslim holidays on a lunar calendar is that Ramadan is always on the move. Islamic holidays move backward at the rate of about 10 days per year with respect to the Gregorian calendar. Five years ago, Ramadan was planted firmly in the wintertime, which meant that fasting could end as early as 4 or 5 pm. In another five, however, Ramadan will encroach on summertime, where days stretch on until 9 pm or later. (I began fasting at age 14, when Ramadan was in the middle of summer, so fasting comes pretty easy for me.)

There is, however, a bright side to this holiday mobility. As Ramadan moves slowly through the calendar year, we have multiple opportunities to share Ramadan with other faith traditions and holidays as their paths cross in time. And each time this happens, there is a bit of cross-pollination that goes on that I believe enriches both traditions.