Reflections: 2020 Annual Report
I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your your wonderful deeds.
Psalm 9:1
Dear friends,
We don’t grow from experience alone. We must reflect on our experiences in order to truly change. This insight is built into everything from cognitive behavioral therapy to the Ignatian prayer of examen. I believe it’s also necessary for us to reflect on our collective experience in 2020, a year none of us shall soon forget.
As we look back on our work at DIFW in 2020, it was filled with celebration, lament, redirection, and ultimately gratitude. We started the year with our largest event ever: Business for the Common Good. Yet only a month later, the country shut down due the coronavirus pandemic. As tension levels reached a fever pitch in our society, we paused, collectively lamented, and then redirected our work toward serving you online with events like “The Politics of Neighborly Love,” and “Women, Work & Calling,” which reached an international audience. We ended the year with deep gratitude — for our work, our calling, and for you, our donors and friends.
In this report, I invite you to reflect on your last year as well. What did you celebrate? How did you lament? How did you redirect your work? What can you be grateful for?
Thank you for your partnership in forming men and women to serve God, neighbor, and society through their daily work. As you read this annual report, embrace the call of the Israelite prophets to “remember.” Take time to reflect, write your thoughts, pray, and allow the Spirit to deeply heal your soul. This interior work, we believe, is the necessary foundation for healing the world through our work.
With gratitude,
Jeff Haanen
Founder & CEO
Denver Institute for Faith & Work