Sermon 13: The Sacred and Rare
(III. The Way of Black Rice)
Beloved gatherers of the Grain,
Today we honor the sacred and the rare — Black Rice, once forbidden, now welcomed.
Black Rice shall be called Forbidden, yet it shall be welcomed by those who seek wisdom.
What is rare is not always wrong. What was guarded may be the very gift we need.
I. Called Forbidden
Black Rice shall be called Forbidden. The annals declared it. Tradition named it.
Some things are labeled forbidden not because they are dangerous, but because they are precious.
Emperors guarded it jealously. The forbidden often protects what is rare.
We fear the forbidden. We assume it means wrong. But the Sower made Black Rice. He saw that it was good.
What is rare is not always wrong. Sometimes it is sacred.
II. Welcomed by the Wise
Yet it shall be welcomed by those who seek wisdom. The wise do not reject by label alone.
They inquire. They taste. They discern. Is this forbidden because it harms, or because it is precious?
Black Rice was not burned. It was not corrupted. It was deep; it was intended.
The wise welcome what the crowd fears. They see past the name to the nature.
What is rare is not always wrong. The wise know the difference.
III. The Oldest Among the Three
Black Rice was oldest though it came last among the Three. Its lineage stretched unto the dawn of cultivation.
The sacred is often ancient. The rare often carries the oldest wisdom.
We valorize the new. We dismiss the old. But the oldest grain may hold the deepest truth.
The memory of forgotten harvests. The unseen moons. The emperors who knew.
What is rare is often what has survived. What is sacred is often what has endured.
IV. Served Sparingly
And at the table it was served sparingly, that its rarity might be honored and its depth appreciated.
The sacred is not for excess. It is for the moment of attention. The sparing portion honors the gift.
We do not pile the sacred on the plate. We receive it. We honor it. We appreciate it.
At the Final Feast: Black for celebration. The rare grain has its place.
What is rare is not always wrong. It is to be received with gratitude.
V. Sweetness and Mystery
For Black Rice carries sweetness within strength, and mystery within nourishment.
The sacred often holds paradox. Sweetness and strength. Mystery and nourishment.
We cannot reduce the sacred to one quality. It is manifold. It is deep.
What is rare is not always wrong. Sometimes it is the very thing that completes the feast.
And they shall sit together in one bowl — White, Brown, Black — and the bowl shall be full.
Let us honor the sacred and the rare.
Do not fear the forbidden. Welcome what the wise welcome. Receive with gratitude.
For what is rare is not always wrong — sometimes it is the gift we did not know we needed.
Go forth, reverent and receptive.
And may you welcome the sacred.