Father Joe Bidwill tells us we are like a bag of mixed nuts, all different, but all with a story that needs to be told. We can learn so much from each other by telling our faith story. I want to tell you mine.

Mine is not a dramatic story of recovery from alcohol and drugs; it is a pretty ordinary story, probably not much different in the basics from yours. I grew up in a traditional family with a mom and dad who loved us six kids. We all knew we were loved. Like most families of the 40's and 50's we were taught to respect God, and never to miss church - that was it. When I was taught the first commandment, to love God and obey Him with all my heart and soul, I just tried to do it. If Mom and Dad, following the Church fathers, said it, then what was there to argue about? Out of this sense of duty, I went to church, but I didn't know much about my faith.

I grew to adulthood with church-going important to me. Still this was more a duty than the drawing of love. I needed the love commitment, though I was unaware of that dimension the earlier years of my life.

With this lack, my priorities were blindly set; a deeper faith would reveal that. Fun and pleasure came first, work came next (I was in Real Estate at an early age, licensed at the age of 21 and working in my father's company) and God and church were last. The old values remained, but faded in the importance they had when I was a child.

Father Ken Roberts' book "Proud to be Catholic" helped me understand the stages of my faith life. He writes of three types of Catholics (or whatever faith you may relate to): the cultural, the habitual, and the committed. The cultural Catholic is one who is "born into the faith," whose background is solidly Catholic. This one may have gone through the Catholic school system. It seems, however, that that is where it all ends. He or she may not have been to church in years except for an occasional Christmas or Easter liturgy, but if asked will proclaim, "I'm Catholic. . . but don't practice."

The habitual Catholic attends church more often, maybe even every Sunday, but really knows little about the faith. If put to the test, this person could not effectively explain or defend it, but merely goes through the motions week after week.

Then comes the Committed Catholic. God Bless them! They know the faith, they are faithful to the Church's teaching, they support the Church. Most importantly, they have grown in their relationship with Christ through the sacramental life of the Church. Many other faiths have the faithful adherents that this describes.

At adulthood where was I on this ladder? Only to the second rung. I put in my one hour a week, but my mind was not on hearing God's word that was being spoken to me. I occupied a pew, but my spirit and my heart were not open. I don't think I was alone in this, but that many others will relate to this vacancy in their own lives.

Yet, God had His hand on me and it had been there gently for a long time. My father Henry Hermes' spirituality was always rubbing off on me. He was one who gave when he didn't have anything to spare for his family; he was a generous man. He had strong faith, but in a quiet way. He believed that there were two things never to talk about in public if you were to get along with folks; they were the proverbial religion and politics.

One week after Nancy and I had had a wonderful engagement party at her folks' house in Scandia, MN, my dad, age 56, died of a sudden heart attack. It was February 1966. I was just 29 and my world was turned over. A year or so earlier I had taken my real estate brokers exam, and just a few months before, Dad had insisted I make an agreement to buy the business from Mom if something happened to him. So in many ways I had been readied, but it was frightening to face marriage and the responsibility of taking over a struggling business. I started with three part-time salesmen and myself. Slowly I was made aware that Dad had not had the energy to keep up the daily demands of his business. It had been slipping.

Just a month after Dad's funeral, the three men, knowing drastic changes were necessary, gave their notice. I was left working with Mom who for thirty-five years had been a full-time housewife. The wheels were coming off the Hermes Real Estate Company, and I was at the controls. I owed this large debt to Mom, I paid her a salary, and I had almost no business. And ahead loomed my wedding to a fiance' who thought I was a successful business man. Boy! What a predicament!

My first thought was to get to work. And work I did! The first year and a half after my father's death we had 15 sales. It may have been meager but it was a beginning. From there I began to hire some good full-time sales people, and we were soon on the road to being a successful real estate company. By 1977 we had grown to four offices. In the world's eyes, I suppose, I was a success. From fifteen sales in 1966 we topped 500 in 1975. Times were good!

I am looking back on a good marriage and four beautiful babies that were born. But after two years there had been no little Hermes on the way, so Nancy, knowing that before I was married I had made several retreats at the Jesuit Retreat House in North St. Paul, suggested that I make another one to pray that she would get pregnant. Within a month after that retreat we had the good news; we were expecting Sarah. The next year I went back and a few months later it was Wade who was on the way. The year after it was Joe. After the third retreat, Nancy said I could pass up a retreat for a year of so. A few years later we had John. What a blessing all our children have been to us.

I spent too much time at the office, but I convinced myself that this was the way to succeed. Little did I know that storm clouds were brewing. An oil crisis, and soaring interest rates up to 18 and 20% would begin a down turn. We looked good from the outside, but to weather this we were way too leveraged.

Though I had the best wife, I never asked Nancy about all the expanding we were doing. What did she know about the real estate business? Her job was to raise the kids and be a good wife and mother. Those were my thoughts. She was a good wife and mom, but she could have been a good counselor - she wasn't comfortable with what I was doing, but I wouldn't listen to her concerns. I was the man running the office - that was my baby - she should just take care of ours.

By the late 70's we had become a successful company. Because a few years before I had dedicated the business to the Lord, what was there to worry about? I had also started to tithe my income. It felt good to give God the first fruits. Some of those years we were actually tithing more that we had made in the earlier years. It was a time of spiritual highs. All was good! Putting God first in my life was the best thing I had ever done!

Flying high, successful, I could do no wrong. I was going to prayer meetings and conferences all over the country. How had I come from being lukewarm to a red-hot Christian? And what big door to my understanding did God still plan to open?

One night in 1976 I had gotten serious about putting God first in my life. With success had come other temptations. Our business had caused some bad relationships because of the demand buyers make on our time and the weekend work. The family is pressured, and the marriage strained. I needed God in my life.

Several times over the years I tried to read the Bible, and I made retreats, but I was still the habitual Christian. The Lord had been knocking at the door for a long time, but I didn't open. Or the other metaphor - I continued to run away from the Hound of Heaven. I was having too much fun in this world to think of changing. If I made a decision for God, I thought all the fun would be gone. I feared change and all that goes with it.

But that night I begged God to bring the Bible to life for me, to put the right people in my life, and to bring me the books that would increase my spiritual life. Wow! The Lord answered this prayer!

Just a few days after praying this prayer, I was on a business trip to Chicago. I met the man who would be the speaker at the two day conference I was attending. He wanted to talk . . .about the Lord! In the past when this would happen, I would listen politely, and change the subject as soon as possible. This day it was different. My heart was burning and I wanted to hear more. He even gave me a book about giving your life to the Lord - all this from a good Southern Baptist.

I was ready! I said, "Yes, Lord, I want all you have for me." And I made the longest journey to be made in a lifetime. That journey is the eighteen inches from the head to the heart. Head knowledge must get to the heart where our emotions are turned-on to love what we have only coolly known. Once you have Jesus in your heart you are really ready to learn. From that point on the Bible came to life. I began to go to church because I wanted to go, and I sought out good books and other Christian men, because I could not live without them.

The following Sunday at home I saw a notice in the bulletin that had been speaking to my spirit for six months. I hadn't been open to it, but now, with Jesus in my heart, I saw the prayer meeting listed for Thursday night. Nancy didn't think it was for her, so off I went. It was a totally new experience. The music and praise was beautiful. Everyone was happy and full of joy. I heard lively praise and worship in song and testimony, even praying in tongues, all for the first time. I witnessed people praying for each other with expectant faith knowing that Jesus is still in the healing business. I could see God was answering my prayers in it all; His hand was bringing new faith-filled people to me. I was changing from a lukewarm Christian to one on fire for the Lord. The scripture comes to mind, Revelation 4:15-16, "I know your deeds; I know you are neither hot or cold. How I wish you were one or the other - hot or cold! But because you are lukewarm, neither hot or cold, I will spew you out of my mouth!" Pretty strong words.

Alcoholics Anonymous succeeded because the founders saw the benefit of people with a drinking problem giving each other support. We who want to follow the Lord need this support even more than the alcoholic. This prayer group was my support, and 27 years later I have never regretted it. Far from it, it has been my lifeblood. At real estate conventions, we would stand around telling everyone who would listen how good it was. In reality we were standing around lying to each other. So much of it is not real. When fellowshipping with my prayer group friends, I was honest about the real me. The armor was off. It was so refreshing compared to the too-often phoniness of the business world.

Have you seen that picture of Jesus standing at the door knocking? If you've noticed, there is no doorknob on His side. He won't force himself on us. That is our gift of freedom. We must take the initiative and open up to let Him in. In my life Jesus had been at the door for a long time waiting for me. I had worried about having Him as a guest - He would make life boring. The fun would be gone. Not so! When I found out what I had been missing, I only regretted not having invited Him in sooner. It was a love affair from that time on. I cannot get enough of what He has in store for me. Wow! Wow! Wow! Is all I can say!

I needed to make amends to some people I had hurt along the way. I did this. How refreshing it was to leave all the bitterness and hurts from the past and move on. Bitterness can cause illness; it hurts the bearer more than it does the offender.

Now to those winds of change that were fast approaching and would blow a whole new understanding of myself and of my Lord. Though God gives every bird its food, He doesn't find it for the creature and throw it into the nest. With interest rates skyrocketing, and oil prices soaring, the bottom went out of real estate - my business and many others. With the big recession of the early 80's my highly leveraged realty business suffered. Thankfully I didn't lose our home, or the business, but it was nothing like a few short years before.

We went from giving money to hardly having enough to live on. The reserves went. The only way out was to start selling the nice nest egg. As tough as it was for me and the family, I believed the Lord was in it all. He was teaching me new lessons. We learned what it was like to be receiving rather than giving charity. It was very humbling, but a good lesson. As I look back, it is easy to see God's hand in it, but sometimes while we were suffering it wasn't all that clear.

In spite of the crunch, Nancy and I decided to continue to tithe. We felt that if we cannot give in hard times, we wouldn't give when and if the Lord gave us prosperity again. In those lean years we learned so much that is still with us today.

We had to sell our big house on the St. Croix River with 1/2 down payment on a contract for deed. The house was almost paid for, but at the closing the banker, to reduce the debt I had with them, took all but $250 from the $90,000. What were we to do now? After that day our plans to build on 90 acres we owned were quickly revised. We moved into the basement of Nancy's parents' house. What a come-down from 5000 sq. ft. In 600 sq. ft. there was not room for our daughter Sarah to sleep. She would go to her aunt's to spend the night, one hundred yards through the woods. For eighteen months we lived this way until with the help of prayer group friends, and my good friend, the home-builder Glenn Neujahr, who gave his time, a smaller home was built. We are still living in this house, and are very happy with it.

One last story about this new home. An old customer of mine had not worked for a number of years because of an industrial accident. He had made an error that caused the death of a fellow worker. In the attempt to calm his anxiety, he took tranquilizers. One thing led to another and before long he was hooked on drugs and alcohol. From being a highly skilled workman he fell to handling only part-time jobs. After a ten year absence, when I met him again, he had been told by doctors that he would never be able to hold a full time job.

Hearing his story, my heart went out to him. I thought, "Maybe I can help him get some handy-man work." (How important it is to listen to others in order to find out what is going on in their lives.) When Don opened up to me, I was able to respond in love. Not long afterward, a doctor I had sold a lake-home to needed a dock built, so I asked Don if he wanted to do it. He said, "Yes, I think I can handle this." What a quality job he did! This led to more and more work for him.

As we began the new house, Glenn got very busy, and since I was not a paying customer he said, "Jim, let me be the supervisor, and I think with my assistance, Don can handle the job." So Don for a reasonable hourly rate, took on the job under Glenn's supervision. It was a huge stretch for Don at that time, but it was God's timing. Don would come to life again.

Needless to say we were anxious to have our own house again. What a time of joy it was when, with just the basement walls up, prayer group members: Nancy and I, Clayton and Mary Hulleman, Ralph and Louise L'Allier, Sr. Francis Clare, and her cousin, Sr. Therese Even, met to bless the site. We put stick crosses in the open blocks, then blessed the future house with holy water and oil. I remember Sr. Francis Clare saying that this is going to be a healing house for all who worked on it and for our family. As the house progressed with the help of our children and family members, hundreds of volunteer hours from St. Peter's prayer group and others, our house was built. It was a community effort. Without all these friends and family it was not possible. Some Saturdays there were 30 to 40 people roofing, sheet rocking, electrical wiring, etc. I remember Don, the Lutheran, saying, "I didn't think Catholics did things like this." I replied, "We are all part of the family of God with slightly different ways of getting there." To our amazement this man who the doctors said would never work again went back to his old type of employment in a highly skilled job. This healing was the first big answer to the prayers we offered when the house was blessed.

Before the business had folded like a house of cards, I had been ahead of other businesses in programs and office procedures that only five to ten years later would be fully adopted in most real estate offices. The miracle I had prayed for, that the worst wouldn't happen, didn't get answered that way. After a men's retreat in December 1984 when I fervently prayed for my predicament, but still with my head in the clouds, I got the answer I needed, quite differently from what I wanted. In January I asked three men I trusted and admired: Bill Kenny, Jim Cahill, and Ralph L'Allier, to meet with me. We gathered in a quiet place to discuss the state of my business. After long deliberation, Bill said, "Jim, you must close the doors and move on. I see no other way." The others agreed, and to my amazement, my spirit was ready to hear this. It wasn't what I wanted, but it was right. These men had been part of our retreat and God was speaking through them.

My friends thought I should find a large company and go to work for it. I had been my own boss for over 20 years - it wasn't an easy decision. I had said, "Bill, I don't even know how to get this all going." Remember, at this time I was not making enough to feed my family let alone operate the office. I knew I did not have time to fool around. Bill offered to call some companies and arrange interviews for me. Because I was focused on my shrinking world, I had lost my self-confidence and failed to see what I could contribute to another company. I had to be reminded that with all my experience and as past president of the St. Paul Board of Realtors, I would be a big asset to another company.

In January of 1985 I moved on to a large city-wide company and was thrust into a bullpen type office surrounded by 20 to 30 other agents. What a humbling experience it was to go to this from my own business where I'd enjoyed a secretary and private office. But with God's help and the encouragement of my wife Nancy, it was done.

The first week there, my manager, Joe Benson, took me to the annual awards party of my new company. With 1800 agents, I attended this gala affair. As the top lister of the past year walked up to the stage to receive his award, I asked Joe, " How many listings did it take to become the top agent of this company?" The answer was sixty-five properties to sell. Trying to remotivate myself I said, "I can do better than that." One year later I was on that stage accepting that award. With over one hundred listings in 1985, I was on the road to financial recovery and to regaining my self worth.

During the crunch I had considered other careers, but in the end I'd decided that if I put my efforts in what I already knew, now with God's help, I could be dynamite. God's hand was upon me even when I had trusted only in my self and not in Him. He had needed to teach me a hard lesson. The son whom He loves He disciplines. My word of advice to others: it is ordinarily better to build on the foundation already laid than to start a new one. Looking back twenty-seven years, for forty-five years I have worn the hat of a real estate salesman, it has been good. I am proud of my profession.

I began by repeating the adage, "we all have a story to tell." Unless you share yours, the Gospel story will continue to be unheard by many. As Christians we have the Truth and very important truths to be told. The Jew, Muslim, and Christian share in the belief of One God, the same God. Abraham, as we know, was the father of these great faiths. But we who are Christians go one important step beyond professing one God. We believe Jesus born of Mary is truly the Son of God, died, and was raised from the dead. We, too, will some day die and rise from the grave. Jesus will come again at the end of time to separate the sheep from the goats. The goats will be told they have lost the eternal life with God, and the sheep will be welcomed to Heaven; "This day you will live with me forever." Live is short. Eternity is forever. Which do you choose?

Where is Jim Hermes today? I still have that love affair with Jesus. I encourage you, do not be afraid to say yes to the Lord. Knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior brings the power of God into your life and work. Is today that important day in your life when you will journey the eighteen inches from head to heart? Remember, the Lord will not say yes for you. That is the free will that God has given you. Don't be fooled by that saying, "Everybody is doing it." Just because that's the way the world works, doesn't make it right. Man and woman, we stand tall, so when the Lord comes at the end of life, we will hear Him say, "Good job, my faithful servant. Come into my Kingdom."

How To Contact

Jim Hermes
22577 Kirk Ave North
Scandia, MN 55073

E-Mail jim@jimhermes.com
Web Site www.jimhermes.com

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