PERSPECTIVE: Money is Meaningless so What's the Point??

I’ve been asked MANY times over the last year or so, “Why don’t you just stick to weather?” Or I have been advised countless times, “You have no business spouting your political opinion, you should just stick with what you are good at!”

After a nearly 20-year broadcast weather career and two years of developing a weather based podcast/web site and blog, I decided I just couldn’t do it anymore.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, the BLM riots, and then the 2020 “Election”, I knew I couldn’t remain sitting quietly on the sidelines. There were things happening in this world that were MUCH MORE important than forecasting the weather.

Don’t get me wrong, weather will always be my first love and I will always have a passion for the science, but something else has been on my heart and mind.

Since I started speaking out about my feelings on politics and my faith, I’ve had a lot of people who have voiced their appreciation. However, I’ve also had a lot of people complain that as a meteorologist I have no right to assert my political views and that I should just go "get a job".

My response to them is simple. I did JUST THAT for nearly two decades. I followed the broadcast TV circuit, moved my family around from state to state and I stuck to weather and ONLY WEATHER. Despite my political beliefs, I NEVER asserted them. I did exactly as the tv stations I worked for wished, I stayed in my lane, I stayed out of politics and stuck only with weather.

The great irony is that IT DIDN'T MATTER because at the end of the day, it was POLITICS that ended my TV weather career. It was nothing less and nothing more than SHEAR POLITICS that stole my family’s livelihood, tarnished my name and brought an abrupt end to the career path that I had begun decades before when I committed to meteorology in college.

So here we are, almost two and a half years later and the Mayor that caused our "Calamity" has been voted out of office. A victory for sure for many in the Rochester community.

However, there is much work left to be done. The victory is only partial. Much of the political establishment that created and maintained the corruption of her office over the last 7 1/2 years remains in place..

Getting back to my critics, why don't I just get a job?

You mean like the one I had before the Mayor called for my firing or the one the station couldn't give up fast enough after she had made her demand?? Ok I'll let that one rest for now, but the fact is that I could have gotten back into TV.. I could've went back to work for another company.. I could've went into a completely different industry outside of weather or tv, but let me return to the REAL question, WHAT'S THE POINT??

Is it just to make money? Is it just to provide for my family?? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that sentiment as much as I do anything else. I've never been afraid of hard work, and have always gone the extra mile to provide for my family. In fact, in recent months, in addition to developing a web based business/podcast/social platform you could find me Bartending, Door Dashing, speaking at schools, or even filling in on radio. But again, what's the point here??

Last night, Lisa and I had the privilege of listening to a Pastor Greg Locke sermon in person! We had front row seats at a local Christian Church and he began his message saying that the Spirit had moved him to changing his message at the last moment during worship. He didn't say what he had intended on speaking about, but immediately started talking about the subject of IDENTITY.

He said he didn't know who exactly in the congregation this message was directed toward, but specifically made mention that men in this country are suscepible to deriving TOO MUCH of their identity from their jobs or their career and that IS NOT what we as Christians are called to do.

Right then and there I knew exactly what he was referring to and in that moment felt the conviction of my previous life as a Television Broadcaster. I had devoted SO MUCH of myself towards my former career, but perhaps hadn't given NEARLY ENOUGH towards my Faith, my Family and HIS CALLING. I had put too much into my "identity" as a Weatherman and not enough as a Father, Husband or Son of the Living God.

Pastor Locke, in his VERY animated self, went on to describe the plight of the "bleeding woman" from Mark chapter 5 in the Gospel. She had bled for 12 years and was known throughout the community for her problem.

"She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse." Mark 5:26

That singular issue literally DEFINED who she was. She didn't have a name or was known for NOTHING ELSE until the moment she reached out and "touched his cloak." Mark 5:27

Then TWO MIRACLES occurred. The first and most obvious, she was IMMEDIATELY healed. Mark 5:29. Then after Jesus asked, "Who touched me?" Mark 5:31 and she "fell at his feet" Mark 3:33 the second miracle occurred.

Jesus said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." Mark 5:34.

The second miracle was the identity Jesus gave her when he called her DAUGHTER. Until that point she was known for nothing other than her issue, her problem, her sin. Now she was known as Daughter to the Living God! You could only imagine how this COMPLETELY CHANGED the trajectory of her life. What a gift.

While my identity prior to January 6, 2019 was not wrapped up in a problem or a medical issue per say, it was wrapped up into something just as superficial. A job.. a career.. a thing to do to make money.

I don't want you to get me wrong here, because I do miss the money and the stability that my former career provided. However, outside of being a means to an end, there really wasn't much MEANING in all that.

Now there is something more. Now, I can clearly see that my identity is in HIM and HIS PURPOSE for my life. While I don't pretend to know what my future holds, I do know WHO holds my future.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

So, is it time for me to jump back into weather? Alas, no. At least not yet. There is work to be done.

Stay tuned.

-Jeremy Kappell

Meteorologist, Speaker, Talk Show Host, Blogger and American Patriot