“As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing” (Matthew 13:22).
In our super-materialistic world, fulfillment means having lots of money. It has become easy for us to identify with Tevye, the leading character in “Fiddler on the Roof,” as he complains,
Dear God, you made many, many poor people. I realize of course it’s no shame to be poor. But it’s no great honor either. So what would have been so terrible if I had a small fortune?
Then Tevye intones the famous song,
“If I Were a Rich Man.” The lyric begins with Tevya’s reminder to God that if he were a rich man, he wouldn’t have “to work hard.” In fact, “all day long” he’d just “deedle deedle dum…bidi bidi bum.”
In the bridge (the middle part of the song) Tevye sings,
I’d build…
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