Progressive Beatitudes

Do you know the beatitudes by heart? It's something I've always thought that I should do but haven't yet.

1) blessed are the poor in Spirit
2) blessed are they that mourn
3) blessed are the meek
4) blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness
5) blessed are the merciful
6) blessed are the pure in heart
7) blessed are the merciful
8) blessed are the peacemakers
9) blessed are the persecuted

The Bible Dictionary tells us that the beatitudes are progressive and interrelated.
thegospelcoalition.org, an Evangelical Christian website, proposes the idea that there are roots, shoots and fruit. The first three beatitudes being the roots, #4 is a shoot and the last four are the fruit. A perfected saint would go through all the steps and would inherit eternal life.
We start at the beginning, with being poor in spirit, and work our way towards persecution.
This has always bothered me. Especially since being a peacemaker comes right before being persecuted. Should I seek persecution? It doesn't seem like something a peacemaker should do, but the Lord says if you are persecuted "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven." (Matthew 5:12)
Then there's this quote from Brigham Young:
"Let any people enjoy peace and quietness, unmolested, undisturbed, never be persecuted for their religion and they are very likely to neglect their duty, to become cold and indifferent and lose their faith."
It's enough to make you want to go out and pick a fight right? But we know that can't be right, that's not what Jesus would do.
I liked this talk from President Hunter. It's a little older, from 1980. It's called God Will Have a Tried People.
In it he talks about the idea of opposition. Persecution is one of its forms, but it can also appear as physical pain, emotional sorrow, wayward children, financial reversals or family disappointments. The idea is that the Lord will try us. I like to change 'blessed are the persecuted' in my head to 'blessed are those who endure through their trials to the end.'