White hair should not follow black

Our campus is in mourning this Saturday morning.

Yesterday we learned the tragic news that the five-year-old son of two of our staff persons died from diphtheria. They had been at a public hospital for infectious and communicable diseases here in Manila since Sunday or Monday. They had initially thought the little guy had the mumps, because there was the tell-tale swelling on at least one side of his face. But, as it turned out, the real diagnosis was much more severe.

I have no idea of the source, or even if it is authentic to China, but I am given to understand that there is a Chinese proverb that runs, "White hair should never follow black." Wherever I read this interpreted this saying as saying (wow, the puns are thick today) that the older generation should not outlive the younger generation. This is a bit of folksy wisdom from all over the world, I would imagine, so there is no particular reason that this statement should be Chinese specifically. It is never supposed to happen that the little ones die before their parents, and especially not when the little ones are still little. I find I don't have any grand theological answers. And that's ok.