I AM GOD?

I got to thinking about the story I told about Jalal Al Din Rumi in a previous article. He is a very famous Sufi Mystic and poet in history.

In case you don't have access to the article I'm referring to the story  that was told to me by a friend who was studying for his Master's Degree in History of Religion. So, this was a part of a comparative Religion course he was taking at the time. At the time as Christian Mystics we were greatly enamored with this story:

Here is the story: Jalal Al Din Rumi is sitting a a campfire in the desert with many other Muslims. Suddenly he says, "There is nothing within this cloak but God!" The men rise to kill him with their knives or swords because at that time saying something like this was a blasphemy punishable by instant death. So, as they all stabbed his cloak at once there was nothing within his cloak but air. Because what he had said was true. There actually was nothing within his cloak but God: Air!

Which also reminds me of Obi Wan Kenobi when Darth Vader (Kills?) him when there is nothing within his cloak but air too.

I got to thinking about someone in a Christian culture saying something like this.

People's first reaction would not be to kill someone like this.
Instead people might laugh at him or just think he was crazy.

Or they might think he was saying something like this as an affirmation which would be like saying:

"I am Invoking God's help into my life and body."

So then they might not think the person crazy but instead conducting a spiritual practice.

So, I guess I was struck between the major difference here between Islamic culture and Christian Secular Culture.

We are seeing this sort of difference playing out every day now in the middle east.