The paradox and the promise

This Friday at Youth Discipleship we started our series looking at the Sermon on the Mount. We began with the beatitudes, a very eye-opening look at the value Jesus places on certain 'attitudes' in the Kingdom of God that in this world are not celebrated.
Jesus said "blessed" (happy, fortunate, blissful) are; those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, who are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who are merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers and  persecuted. That doesn't necessarily sound like a list of 'blessings' as we usually understand them, right? It takes a special kind of person to look on their mournful circumstances, or during persecution, and really feel the blessing-hence the 'paradox'. The 'promise' is found as the result of enduring through these blessed circumstances; for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven, for they shall be comforted, they shall inherit the earth, they shall be satisfied, they shall receive mercy, they shall see God, they shall be called sons of God, theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Now that sounds like a list of things I want to be blessed with!!
That's the problem with me; I want all the good stuff and I'd like to avoid anything difficult please! But that's just not how God's Kingdom works. Over here in Switzerland we've been taking advantage of the Alps in winter, the ski lifts take you high up to the top of the mountain where the views are incredible, stunning. But somehow, it's not quite the same as when you've struggled up a mountainside for hours, being disgruntled by the 'false peaks', stopping now and then for a breather and, as a last resort, singing songs or playing games to take your mind off the pain in your legs and the burning in your chest! When you come over the last hill and reach the summit and you glimpse the view for the first time....that's an awesome feeling. I think that may be what Jesus is getting at here in the beatitudes. You want to enjoy The Kingdom of God to the full? You got to go His way...no shortcuts, because that's where the true blessings are.
Right, now to try and put this into practice....yikes!