“Blessed are the Peacemakers”: How One Changemaker is Advocating for Peace in Our Community
Whether we’re scrolling through social media, checking the news or just talking with a friend, we’re constantly reminded that our world and our relationships are plagued by chaos.
But Linnea Miller has decided that the negativity of the outside world will not define her inner peace.
As a politician and business leader, Linnea continually works to maintain peace in both her personal and professional life. Since 2014, she’s served on the Suwanee City Council and is the founder and president of Long Table Consulting.
“In both roles, I partner with leaders to transform culture and to create lasting community impact for their businesses or for their cities,” Linnea shared.
Recently, she joined business and nonprofit leaders at the Nonprofit and Leadership Academy Masterclass (NPLA) hosted by the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia. In her session, she equipped leaders to choose peace in their personal and professional lives so they can transform the culture of their homes and places of work.
“A lot of leaders are impacted by what’s happening in our businesses or in our world in general, and we allow that chaos to disrupt our personal peace,” she explained. “If leaders are internally chaotic or reactive or disconnected, that energy goes outward.
“But when we have internal peace, we’re able to respond rather than react, to be intentional instead of accidental, to listen deeply and to create environments where trust and collaboration can thrive.”
So how can leaders cultivate personal peace? One tool Linnea has found useful is The Peace Index.
“It helps us look at five areas: purpose, place, provision, personal health and people. When one or more of those areas are low, our peace overall tends to be low,” Linnea said.
“If we can figure out where we’re lacking peace and why we’re lacking peace, often we can ‘trade up’ something relatively small — something in our mindset or rhythms or behaviors — that can help us with our personal peace.”
These trades don’t have to be grand gestures or routine changes but small and intentional adjustments.
“I remember someone told me they had an hour commute each way to and from work, and she said, ‘I used to listen to true crime podcasts on the way to work, but I found that when I was getting to work, I was more anxious,’” Linnea recalls.
This individual chose to instead listen to a positive podcast or positive music on her commute, and she soon felt a shift in her mood and her perspective.
“Small trade-ups like that can make a difference, and I’ve seen it in my own life,” she shared. “It’s not about perfection, but it is about being intentional with our rhythms.”
Linnea is also intentional about peacemaking inside and outside the workplace.
“There’s a difference between peacemaking and peacekeeping,” she explained. “Peacekeeping starts with the premise that we are at peace and we should keep the peace. Peacemaking starts with the premise that we do not have peace and we need to make it.”
Throughout her career as a businesswoman and politician, Linnea has had many opportunities to foster peace as a leader. No matter how much peace or discord others are bringing to a situation, she knows peace can start with her.
“I’m often walking into environments where there is chaos, and chaos can be caused for a variety of reasons. It can sometimes be external and sometimes be internal,” she shared.
“But peacemaking comes from a place of clarity. I cannot listen effectively to other people if my mind is swirling with ten other things. I cannot be somebody who is helping others navigate the complexities of their life if I’m letting the chaos of my life control me.”
From her years in politics, Linnea has recognized that keeping peace has become increasingly difficult in a political climate often fueled by division and anger.
“People have normalized telling lies. It doesn’t matter if it’s true, but they can say it in a soundbite and hope it sticks [with listeners]. People have normalized smear campaigns and ugly ways of attacking other people,” Linnea shared.
She’s learned that fear and anger can motivate action, but they often lead to more chaos.
“It’s like when you poke an anthill with a stick,” she said. “The ants are busy building this colony and doing good for their community when someone pokes the anthill. You get movement, but it’s distracted everybody from the work they were actually doing, which was building their community.”
Despite the continual temptation for all of us to contribute to the world’s chaos, Linnea believes each of us can commit to peace in our daily lives.
“Romans 12:18 says, ‘If it is possible, as far as depends on you, live at peace with everyone.’ I love that [verse] because it’s been an anchor for me. I cannot control somebody else, but as far as it is possible for me, I can control my response.”
This truth, Linnea believes, is for all leaders — whether they are leading a Fortune 500 company, a small nonprofit or a group of friends.
“We may not be able to fix everything or make everything kumbaya in our lives,” Linnea shared. “But even during the hardest times, there are things that we can do to trade up for more peace.
“My call to every leader, whether they’re young or old, is be a peacemaker and your life will be better for it.”
“Blessed are the Peacemakers”: How One Changemaker is Advocating for Peace in Our Community
Whether we’re scrolling through social media, checking the news or just talking with a friend, we’re constantly reminded that our world and our relationships are plagued by chaos.
But Linnea Miller has decided that the negativity of the outside world will not define her inner peace.
As a politician and business leader, Linnea continually works to maintain peace in both her personal and professional life. Since 2014, she’s served on the Suwanee City Council and is the founder and president of Long Table Consulting.
“In both roles, I partner with leaders to transform culture and to create lasting community impact for their businesses or for their cities,” Linnea shared.
Recently, she joined business and nonprofit leaders at the Nonprofit and Leadership Academy Masterclass (NPLA) hosted by the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia. In her session, she equipped leaders to choose peace in their personal and professional lives so they can transform the culture of their homes and places of work.
“A lot of leaders are impacted by what’s happening in our businesses or in our world in general, and we allow that chaos to disrupt our personal peace,” she explained. “If leaders are internally chaotic or reactive or disconnected, that energy goes outward.
“But when we have internal peace, we’re able to respond rather than react, to be intentional instead of accidental, to listen deeply and to create environments where trust and collaboration can thrive.”
So how can leaders cultivate personal peace? One tool Linnea has found useful is The Peace Index.
“It helps us look at five areas: purpose, place, provision, personal health and people. When one or more of those areas are low, our peace overall tends to be low,” Linnea said.
“If we can figure out where we’re lacking peace and why we’re lacking peace, often we can ‘trade up’ something relatively small — something in our mindset or rhythms or behaviors — that can help us with our personal peace.”
These trades don’t have to be grand gestures or routine changes but small and intentional adjustments.
“I remember someone told me they had an hour commute each way to and from work, and she said, ‘I used to listen to true crime podcasts on the way to work, but I found that when I was getting to work, I was more anxious,’” Linnea recalls.
This individual chose to instead listen to a positive podcast or positive music on her commute, and she soon felt a shift in her mood and her perspective.
“Small trade-ups like that can make a difference, and I’ve seen it in my own life,” she shared. “It’s not about perfection, but it is about being intentional with our rhythms.”
Linnea is also intentional about peacemaking inside and outside the workplace.
“There’s a difference between peacemaking and peacekeeping,” she explained. “Peacekeeping starts with the premise that we are at peace and we should keep the peace. Peacemaking starts with the premise that we do not have peace and we need to make it.”
Throughout her career as a businesswoman and politician, Linnea has had many opportunities to foster peace as a leader. No matter how much peace or discord others are bringing to a situation, she knows peace can start with her.
“I’m often walking into environments where there is chaos, and chaos can be caused for a variety of reasons. It can sometimes be external and sometimes be internal,” she shared.
“But peacemaking comes from a place of clarity. I cannot listen effectively to other people if my mind is swirling with ten other things. I cannot be somebody who is helping others navigate the complexities of their life if I’m letting the chaos of my life control me.”
From her years in politics, Linnea has recognized that keeping peace has become increasingly difficult in a political climate often fueled by division and anger.
“People have normalized telling lies. It doesn’t matter if it’s true, but they can say it in a soundbite and hope it sticks [with listeners]. People have normalized smear campaigns and ugly ways of attacking other people,” Linnea shared.
She’s learned that fear and anger can motivate action, but they often lead to more chaos.
“It’s like when you poke an anthill with a stick,” she said. “The ants are busy building this colony and doing good for their community when someone pokes the anthill. You get movement, but it’s distracted everybody from the work they were actually doing, which was building their community.”
Despite the continual temptation for all of us to contribute to the world’s chaos, Linnea believes each of us can commit to peace in our daily lives.
“Romans 12:18 says, ‘If it is possible, as far as depends on you, live at peace with everyone.’ I love that [verse] because it’s been an anchor for me. I cannot control somebody else, but as far as it is possible for me, I can control my response.”
This truth, Linnea believes, is for all leaders — whether they are leading a Fortune 500 company, a small nonprofit or a group of friends.
“We may not be able to fix everything or make everything kumbaya in our lives,” Linnea shared. “But even during the hardest times, there are things that we can do to trade up for more peace.
“My call to every leader, whether they’re young or old, is be a peacemaker and your life will be better for it.”
