Snow

It being the first day of April, 2009, and my post bearing the title snow, one might think that that which here follows will be a diatribe bemoaning the wintry evidences present all around me. Honestly that was my original intent. But I've experienced somewhat of a paradigm shift with respect to the snow and the influence it has over my life right now. In talking about this new point of view I have four thoughts.
First of all, as I was walking from my American literature class to the library not 15 minutes ago, as the snow was descending gently, I couldn't help but to notice the looks of dismay and outright disgust on the faces of my classmates. They seemed to view the snow as an affront and a hinderance to their happiness. Seeing such an overwhelming preponderance of sulleness about campus I, in spite of the weather, found myself amused. What good is complaining about something over which you have no power? These people are letting something that is completely out of their control determine their outlook on today. (Insert comment here about not letting anything or anybody outside of your dominion determine who you are and how you view and live life.)
My second thought is that we, living here in the great state of Utah, are in a desert. Such being the case we don't have the luxury of complaining about moisture falling from the heavens, no matter the form in which it descends. I would much rather have the tip of my nose be cold and have rosy cheeks now, than suffer the agonizing effects of a parched summer.
This lead me to think about a passage from the Book of Mormon where Nephi, the son of Helaman, tells of the great nothingness of man in saying that we are less than the dust of the earth, "For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God" (Helaman 12:8). The snow is as the dust of the earth for it merely does what our great and everlasting God tells it to do. The elements are a product of his hands and act according to his will. If we see fit to complain about the snow, we are really complaining about the will of God and saying that we know better than God what the world needs. A truly prideful mindset and one worthy of the rebuke given Paul "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" (Acts 9:5). (There are probably many other scriptures that would be more apropos in this situation, but I like "kick against the pricks." It's imagery strikes me as humorous, as well as poignant.) If it's snowing in April, it's because God wants it to snow in April. That's good enough for me.
Lastly, I find the fact that it is snowing on April 1 to be a further boon to my testimony of the fact that God has a sense of humor. I can hear it now, a tremendous thundering voice echoing across the vast expanse of eternity, "APRIL FOOLS!!!" Followed by raucous laughter.