There are many paths to God, so there is just one path to God. Pentecostalism and emotional healing are not dissimilar to shamanism; whilst the various mainstream Christian churches, that can range from puritanical simplicity to high ceremony, reflect and even reproduce the varieties of worship to be found in all the religions of the world. Throughout the world, there are the quiet paths, the reflective paths, the rhythmic paths of ritual, the unadorned paths of the ascetics, the ecstatic paths, and yes, the wild paths of the shamans. When imbued with good heart, and only when imbued with good heart, they are all valid paths leading ultimately to God. There are many paths to God, so there is just one path to God.
We see Pentecostalists with arms raised in ecstasy. They are singing and dancing as they praise God and as they seek to be infused with the very spirit of God. They make happy noise. They cry out in tongues. Near them is a shaman woman. She stares at us as she holds her sacred drum. She beats her drum to the rhythm of God and Earth, to the rhythm of the trees and all the beasts of the woods and fields. She too makes a happy sound. She too cries out in her own ancient tongues. Here is a great truth that we forget at our peril. Many are the paths to God; many are the spiritual and mystical ways; many are the sacred and holy ways: but ALL when undertaken in the spirit of inclusivity and love, in the spirit of ONENESS with ALL, in the humility of the true spiritual pilgrim, are true and holy and sacred ways.