The role of suffering, the power of faith
Jim Pillen is in his first term as Nebraska’s governor. The former Husker football standout is a longtime hog farmer, veterinarian and businessman who started Pillen Family Farms and DNA Genetics. He is a member of St. Isidore Parish in Columbus.
Governor Pillen suffered serious injuries in December 2024 when he was thrown from a horse he was riding. He believes prayers and his Catholic faith, along with God’s grace, are reasons he is healing from the accident.
Dennis Kellogg, director of communications for the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln, talked with Governor Pillen recently about his recovery, his Catholic faith and what he has learned from suffering. What follows is an edited version of that conversation.
Dennis Kellogg, Southern Nebraska Register: I want to start off by talking about the foundation of your faith. What was it like growing up Catholic in the Pillen household?
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen: We grew up west of a little town called Platte Center. I was just back last fall. We celebrated the 100th anniversary of the building of the church, St Joe’s Catholic Parish. We had a grade school. We prayed before every meal. We went into church on Saturday nights, at least every other week, for reconciliation. There were no Saturday night Masses. So you did Mass on Sunday mornings. And you never, ever, ever, ever missed Mass. It was a huge part of growing up. Faith and family and hard work, and that’s the way it was.
Southern Nebraska Register: You’ve been a successful businessman. Now you’re governor of the state of Nebraska. How has your faith played a part in your personal life and your professional life?
Governor Pillen: Number one, I’ve never been comfortable talking about it, right? It’s stuff we keep private, and as I tell Nebraskans, I think we’ve missed it in the last 50 years... I think it’s one of the reasons why silly things have happened to us, as we’ve been duped about this separation of public and faith. And so, I’m a believer that we need to talk about it. And so I’ve kept it very, very simple.
As I say, I’m a sinful slob, but I’m grateful for faith. I don’t do anything different than I’ve done my whole life. I pray to God, ask Him to help me do His will. I ask Him to keep me positive no matter who I interact with, no matter what the circumstances are... Just really, really pray for strength to be 100% positive and then work hard.
And that’s about as simple as it is, and I’m trying to get better and better at relying on God every moment of the day, instead of thinking I can do it better.
Southern Nebraska Register: Looking back, were there ever times when you felt your faith was really tested, and how did you work through those times?
Governor Pillen: Faith is tested a lot. When this calling happened, I had an extraordinary moment, probably five months into the campaign. I was exhausted. I was learning to talk about things I’d never talked about. I was so uncomfortable after everything I did. I was doing five events a day. After every event, I was sweating down to my belt buckle....
I went and saw Father on a Sunday morning and just said, “You know, I don’t think I can do this. Even though it was a calling, I think I’m going to give up.”
And Father was extraordinary. It was one of the incredible moments to help me through. He said, “Haven’t you figured it out yet, Jim?”
I said, “Obviously, I haven’t.”
He said, “You’re not quitting. God has you exactly where he wants you, because He wants all of you, not part of you. All of you.”
And it was a really, really extraordinary, transformative moment.... And so from that moment on, anytime I ever give a talk, I just say, “OK God, I’m not sure, but I know you will be with me. I know you will give me the words that the people need to hear, and you’ll use me.”
And I can’t tell you the peace I have. Very rarely do I go by a scripted speech. I have an idea what we’re going to talk about, and I just trust in the Holy Spirit.
Southern Nebraska Register: One time when you were tested, at least physically, if not spiritually, came back in December when you were on a horse ride and you fell off that horse. It resulted in really serious injuries—seven broken ribs, lacerations to your spleen and to your kidney, a broken vertebrae. First of all, how are you doing?
Governor Pillen: I’m doing good. Thank you. I call it a life-giving moment. I’m doing great only by God’s grace and just the extraordinary prayers of Nebraskans and people all over the country. It’s just overwhelming. Still nine weeks out, it’s hard for me to talk about without getting choked up, but I’m doing great.
And, yeah, it was a life-giving moment. And in a life giving moment, you have one of two choices. You either cave, or you come out better.
I have faith that God is using me. Has given me another shot at life, because we were just a couple inches off from probably not being around, and it could have been worse in a whole lot of other ways. So by God’s grace, tons of prayers, great health care, I’m doing really well.
Southern Nebraska Register: During that time when the pain was so intense, how did you lean on your Catholic faith?
Governor Pillen: The most difficult moment was right after the accident, until medical folks got there.
When my daughter got there and she started praying over me, I knew it was pretty bad. And then when the hospital tells me—I wanted to stay at home and stay at Columbus—and they said, “Jim, we need to get you to a Level I Trauma Center.” I served on the Columbus hospital board, and then Nebraska Medicine, so I knew what that meant....
We did the helicopter ride, and I like riding in helicopters, but not on a stretcher, and that one was tough. I didn’t think I was going to make it, and I just kept praying and praying and praying, because I thought that I’d never experienced anything like it....
I got to Nebraska Medicine. They did more tests. The pain was unbearable. Then, we got started. They fixed the spleen and kidney first, but the pain for a few days with all the broken ribs, moving, that was unbearable.
Before that time, I thought I was a pretty tough guy, but the medical personnel would say, “What’s the pain on a scale of 1 to 10?” And my answer was, “15.”
I’d look at the clock and I’d say, “OK God, how are you going to get me through the next hour? Because I can’t make it alone.” So faith is the only solution.
Of course my family and so many people helped there. I’m just incredibly grateful for my faith. I don’t worry about things. I don’t have anxiety. I just pray. And I’m trying to get better at that. Every moment of the day I’m saying, “OK God, where do we go now?” instead of saying, “OK Jim, where do we go now?” I’m trying to get better and better. And these life-giving moments helped clarify it for me.
Southern Nebraska Register: There are so many examples of suffering in the Bible. And then, of course, the Church has its martyrs, and Jesus Christ Himself, who suffered so much. What are you learning from your suffering?
Governor Pillen: I think what I’m learning to do is just talk to God all the time. He’s my best partner. Trust the Holy Spirit is alive and well, and the Holy Spirit’s everywhere... Just having 100% trust and quit the sinful thinking I can do it (by myself).
I’ve learned the other piece is, when we’re talking right now, I’m giving you everything I’ve got. I’m focused on the present moment. Somebody might say, “What do you got later this afternoon?” I have no idea. I don’t care what I have. I’m focused in the here and now, and we’ll worry about this afternoon when this afternoon comes.
And so I’d say those are the things that have become really, really crystal clear in my mind.
Southern Nebraska Register: I’m sure you have a new appreciation for life, but you’ve always been an advocate for life. You have stood up for pro-life causes, and obviously, when it comes to the victory in the election last year with the passage of the pro-life Initiative and the defeat of the abortion Initiative. Where does that battle go from here?
Governor Pillen: I’ve been incredibly grateful for the leadership of our bishops in Nebraska and other churches. We took it to the church. This was a battle against evil. This was not politics. This was a battle against evil....
I think I went to Mass over the six weeks in churches in all three dioceses, and in every one, the priest talked about how incredibly important (this was), and that played a gigantic role. There was a lot of people that did awesome stuff, but if we hadn’t taken it to the pulpit, I think it would have been a different thing.
And where we go from here, I think number one, that message is really important. When we’re talking about this, there’s a whole lot of values issues that are not political. We have to have leadership from the church. This was a beautiful example.
Number two, I think where we go from here is way more conversations and talk about life and love. When we talk about pro-life, if each one of us would brag about our mothers, if we all bragged about our moms, how would a young girl ever have a thought (of anything) other than life and love?
Then lastly, we all have to recognize that we all have a responsibility to help young women who find themselves in a set of circumstances that they don’t know how to handle, that we have more support wrapped around them, and that’s nothing but another piece of life and love so that every baby has a chance.
We were just with our cabinet members this morning, and we’re making incredible impacts. This last year, we had 496 little people adopted. And so those are all the things we need to do—support, educate and wrap a lot of love around people to help them in the most vulnerable times.
Southern Nebraska Register: And when it comes to adoption, you know all about that.
Governor Pillen: It’s life-giving stuff. We became empty nesters, and Suzanne brought a little guy home who was in trouble, and he’s 20 years old now. And as I love to tell people, if you haven’t experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life, if there’s things that happen in your life and you say, “Wow, isn’t that amazing?”
Izic, I met him when he was four weeks old. And his middle name, of course, is James. I had no idea. So that wasn’t happenstance. That was the Holy Spirit’s plan, from his being, from the moment of his time.
Southern Nebraska Register: When you’re in politics, you’re going to run across issues that don’t always align with your faith, whether it’s the death penalty or the Catholic Bishops just sued the Trump administration over payments for refugee care. How do you deal with that when you’re faced with an issue that may not align perfectly with your Catholic faith?
Governor Pillen: Well, life is never perfectly black and white, right? So I keep the faith. There are things that are law. And as I say, it really doesn’t matter what I think, my job as governor is to execute the law, and so that’s how I view it. And you know, it’s just not possible for us to agree on 100% of everything, and that’s OK.
Southern Nebraska Register: Your schedule is so packed, give us some insight into your prayer life. How do you find the time to pray?
Governor Pillen: You just have to make some. I need to do better at (finding) quiet time, but early morning. I like to work out. I like to run. I’ve been curtailed a little bit here the last couple of months (due to injuries).
But when I do that, I pray rosaries. I have prayers I like to recite. And then there’s times I’ll just go and put myself in His presence. So that’s the best time for me. Now that I don’t drive very much... and I’m in the back seat, if I’m not on a phone call, I’ll get my rosary out, I’ll pray.
I’ve got a couple of devotionals that are really important to me that I click through, and I’ve been doing them for years, and I’ll have notes from, you know, 2015, and so the books are getting a little tattered, but they still look good.
Southern Nebraska Register: The world at times can seem overwhelming. It can beat people down. There’s a lot of negative going on in the world. Are you optimistic about where we are as a state and as a nation? And what’s your advice to the average Catholic out there? How would you encourage them?
Governor Pillen: Number one, I’m jacked. I believe so much in the future. I wish I was 20 years old!
So the future is extraordinary. Suzanne and I were at the inauguration, and then we were back in D.C. for the governors’ meetings, and had opportunities to be with the president and be with Cabinet members. And these are extraordinary, extraordinary people. Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture; an incredible Christian lady.
And I’m really jacked about what we’re doing here in the state of Nebraska. The encouragement is really, really simple. We absolutely have to stay focused on what matters. You know, Father Joe said it best right before the election: what we can do is what we can do for ourselves and our family and what we do in our community.
I just encourage everybody, keep your faith, your prayer life, stay in oneness and don’t pay attention to all that crazy noise, because it is so far from the reality. What I have experienced with President Trump, one-on-one, he’s an incredibly compassionate, caring human being. He gets portrayed 180 degrees opposite of that in the press. So don’t pay attention to that noise. I haven’t watched news for four years. I haven’t missed anything.
I think it’s really, really important that we stay focused on what we can do, and the best we can do is by faith and we can inspire each other.
Editor’s Note: Watch the entire interview with Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen on the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln YouTube channel, @CatholicDioceseofLincoln.
