Edgar Lores, a very good man passes to higher ground
Rest in Peace, Edgar
Edgar Lores was my friend. He made this blog work, he made it logical, he made it honest, he made it sincere. He gave us line upon line of rich insight. For years. He made weak blogs strong and strong blogs meaningful. His own authored articles reflect the passion with which he dedicated himself to self-awareness and principles of living well. Well does not mean monetarily rich. It means finding self-fulfillment by being morally disciplined and considerate of others.
Edgar passed away Thursday, July 25, 2019. A member of his family was kind enough to let me know.
Edgar’s last message, left thoughtfully on his computer, means a lot to me, and I know it means a lot to others who engaged with him here or in social media. Edgar wrote:
“Thank you for the fortune of sharing many happy moments of life with you in this cycle.”
Edgar has moved to a higher plane in the progression of life. If we strive likewise to live well, thoughtfully, and respectfully, we shall undoubtedly find him waiting there at the pinnacle for us, his hand stretched out, a smile meant for each of us alone, and possibly a bag of freshly popped popcorn to share as we relax in good humor and serious intent to think about things once again . . . thoroughly.
Joe
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
RIP Edgar.
Pour a good measure in the glass, then onto the ground.
Requiescat in Pace. We’ll miss him for his erudite opinions.
Rest in peace Edgar, our guru.I am shocked.
I am heartbroken.
Me, too. A huge empty space.
Rest In Eternal and Glorious Peace, Edgar Lores. You made this earth much better with your classic posts.
Never saw you, my friend. But I know Rex your brother, so more or less I have this picture of you. I called you Prof, for you added a dimension to my articles, gave them a place in your academy of higher learning. Thank you for your presence in The Society of Honor. You helped make it what it is, a place of sharpening blades, where we can engage in pitched battle with wooden swords, preparing us for real-life combat.
yes, he was truly a Happy Warrior, Wil.
Character of the Happy Warrior
BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he
That every man in arms should wish to be?
—It is the generous Spirit, who, when brought
Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought
Upon the plan that pleased his boyish thought:
Whose high endeavours are an inward light
That makes the path before him always bright;
Who, with a natural instinct to discern
What knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn;
Abides by this resolve, and stops not there,
But makes his moral being his prime care;
Who, doomed to go in company with Pain,
And Fear, and Bloodshed, miserable train!
Turns his necessity to glorious gain;
In face of these doth exercise a power
Which is our human nature’s highest dower:
Controls them and subdues, transmutes, bereaves
Of their bad influence, and their good receives:
By objects, which might force the soul to abate
Her feeling, rendered more compassionate;
Is placable—because occasions rise
So often that demand such sacrifice;
More skilful in self-knowledge, even more pure,
As tempted more; more able to endure,
As more exposed to suffering and distress;
Thence, also, more alive to tenderness.
—’Tis he whose law is reason; who depends
Upon that law as on the best of friends;
Whence, in a state where men are tempted still
To evil for a guard against worse ill,
And what in quality or act is best
Doth seldom on a right foundation rest,
He labours good on good to fix, and owes
To virtue every triumph that he knows:
—Who, if he rise to station of command,
Rises by open means; and there will stand
On honourable terms, or else retire,
And in himself possess his own desire;
Who comprehends his trust, and to the same
Keeps faithful with a singleness of aim;
And therefore does not stoop, nor lie in wait
For wealth, or honours, or for worldly state;
Whom they must follow; on whose head must fall,
Like showers of manna, if they come at all:
Whose powers shed round him in the common strife,
Or mild concerns of ordinary life,
A constant influence, a peculiar grace;
But who, if he be called upon to face
Some awful moment to which Heaven has joined
Great issues, good or bad for human kind,
Is happy as a Lover; and attired
With sudden brightness, like a Man inspired;
And, through the heat of conflict, keeps the law
In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw;
Or if an unexpected call succeed,
Come when it will, is equal to the need:
—He who, though thus endued as with a sense
And faculty for storm and turbulence,
Is yet a Soul whose master-bias leans
To homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes;
Sweet images! which, wheresoe’er he be,
Are at his heart; and such fidelity
It is his darling passion to approve;
More brave for this, that he hath much to love:—
‘Tis, finally, the Man, who, lifted high,
Conspicuous object in a Nation’s eye,
Or left unthought-of in obscurity,—
Who, with a toward or untoward lot,
Prosperous or adverse, to his wish or not—
Plays, in the many games of life, that one
Where what he most doth value must be won:
Whom neither shape or danger can dismay,
Nor thought of tender happiness betray;
Who, not content that former worth stand fast,
Looks forward, persevering to the last,
From well to better, daily self-surpast:
Who, whether praise of him must walk the earth
For ever, and to noble deeds give birth,
Or he must fall, to sleep without his fame,
And leave a dead unprofitable name—
Finds comfort in himself and in his cause;
And, while the mortal mist is gathering, draws
His breath in confidence of Heaven’s applause:
This is the happy Warrior; this is he
That every man in arms should wish to be.
R.I,P. Condolence……
A man I only knew through his writings but accorded with much respect and admiration. RIP Edgar Lores.
Rest in Peace, edgar.
I am lucky to be among those who have passed your way. You have touched us by your fingers on that keyboard, as they gave fruits upon fruits of your logic and wisdom on a lot of subjects — wisdom rendered clearly in that unique numbered-way of yours. Good bye friend. You will not be forgotten.
Thank you Master. Tears flowing as I type this .You’re like a family member that I lost. You’ve touched and impacted me in many ways. Will be missing your neverending likes to my posts. Rest now fellow patriot. 😦 😦
Rest in Peace Edgar. You will be greatly missed.
PH lost a patriot and a genius. He is a certified member of PH’s best and brightest. His analyses had always been scientifically and factually rooted. I regard him as an intellectual sensei, someone who makes sense even when senselessness seems to be the norm. I will miss your enlightening articles and comments here at TSH. Thank you for adding a lot of positive principles in my brain through your sage words. Thank you, Edgar, for being a shining example of what “real” Filipinos are.
(JP- Juana Pilipinas)
edgar called me a racist here, https://joeam.com/2016/03/18/the-great-bangladesh-central-bank-heist/#comments
then said i was patronizing to Filipinos here, https://joeam.com/2018/12/19/the-balangiga-bells-philippine-liberty-bells/#comment-265814
both times he demanded an apology, to where i ran to Joe for protection (which others also offered). I’m like a petulant kid, and he the responsible adult.
Of course edgar was correct, whether I meant what i said or not, the only right thing to do was to apologize. I will not apologize even now, because my head’s too big for my own good.
But I will say I’m sorry, I will not be able to read edgar’s thoughts anymore, his was the only mind here that was totally out of my grasp, like I’m playing Little League and he’s playing some outer space version of baseball brought by unknown intelligent Life out there from the distant Universe.
He made your thoughts clearer than you ever thought yourself, example: https://joeam.com/2015/09/15/salvation-by-austerity/#comment-137373 , like Joe said he made blogs and the commentary so much better.
His was a mind to be mined, I’m so happy that he has left so much of it here on joeam.com (though I know its less than the actual man in real life ). I’m trying to find the very first blog where he and I “met”, our first argument also.
I will miss him here. Rest in Peace, edgar— I know you will, you’re from a different plane.
The first exchange I remember was me butting in with the Laxalt-Marcos Cut it clean with Manuel Buencamino, then the next was that I questioned his numbering style.
I was petulant too.
June 17, 2012, Edgar wrote, in his first comment:
Hi Joe,Just wanted to say I like what I read in your blog. You bring a fresh perspective on Filipinos and the Philippines. You, being a foreigner, can see things that we don’t. Me, being an expatriate, appreciate the truth of your perspective, and the candor with which you speak. Most of all I appreciate that your voice raises awareness not only of where we are but where we ought to go. May the force be with you.
His second was July 25, 2012. Then he became a regular . . .
Joe,Your pie example is analogous to the riddle of the five blind men and the elephant. I like your example better because you can have your pie and eat it too.In his first comment, Anonymous theorises that perceptions are sometimes held because of ulterior motives.But barring hidden agendas, the problem of mis/perception of reality has always been with us. In item 7 of Anonymous’ second comment, he suggests that the correction of perception is oftentimes arrived at via dialectic progression – thesis / antithesis / synthesis – beautifully illustrated using the example of snowflakes.There are other methods. Your method of keeping an open mind, constantly analysing, arriving at your truth by painstakingly separating the grain from the chaff, is admirable. Even so, you must admit that the truth you arrive at is still coloured by past conditioning. It is still your wedge of the pie.If it is any consolation, I do follow your method. I do not know of any other method a rational man can take, unless we are gifted with instant enlightenment like mystics. It is a hard slog. But we must persist. Otherwise, the blankety-blanks (insert GRP, GOP, commies, fundamentalists, etc.) will inherit the earth.
Thanks Joe very classic and valuable.
All my respect for that brilliant and gentle soul.
In one of his many postings here, he mentioned about the cyclical nature of things, of life, of the universe itself. What goes around, comes around – reborn to something new.
If that is indeed the case, it is both a source of comfort and redemption.
You will be missed edgar, may your love and gentle essence gets back in the cycle.
Goodbye, my dear friend Edgar. Your posts shed light on the most complex and difficult issues like a broad searchlight illuminating broad swathes of dark uncertainty and muddled thought. Its is not the pencil thin laser like insights that penetrate deep into the unknown that is a measure of the best and brightest minds but the broad clarity and ordered logic that you brought with you. We will miss you. I will miss you.
Edgar LoresAugust 5, 2012 at 7:58 AM
Permit me to comment. It is good to see that the minions were few in number, far less than expected. Perhaps it was the weather. Perhaps the servile faithful are less in number than the RCC would like to believe. At the very least, it proves that the INC has more simpletons both in terms of ratios and absolute numbers. I myself would like to believe Reason has entered the fray, judging from the volume of judicial comments in the blogs and the news media. The Mind is the Heart’s twin. The Heart is the life, Reason the way.
——–
That’s the first ever comment Edgar wrote in response to one of mine at TSOH. I am not sure if it’s also the first time he commented on your blog but I reckon it would have been around the same time or 7 years ago when he first stumbled into Joe’s world as well.
It strikes me now how those last two lines in his comment pretty much sums up what he has shown us to be true about himself in the 7 or so years that some of us have known him:
“The mind is the heart’s twin. The heart is life, reason the way.”
Our Edgar’s heart and mind shone brightly and illumined our own. He showed us that it was indeed a possibility, that one could stay on course and navigate one’s way through life with the fullness of both heart and mind. We have become well-acquainted with integrity because we have known Edgar.
I will miss our friend sorely.
Virtual hugs, Cha and Mary Grace 😦
Virtual hugs back to you, stpaul… I’ll see you sooner than later with the other guys…can’t stop crying as I type…as usual words fail me…He says I’m emotional, and he’s right…
RIP Professor Edgar Lores. You will be missed and your “Bato sa Buhangin” analysis.
Some of his work…
http://gastronomyafharrison.academia.edu/EdgarLores
And many thanks to Mr. JoeAm and to contributors here.
Thank you.
Shock and grief have robbed me of words…
With the sea of beautiful words by those impacted by edgar, if the Editor permits, because it may be irreverent at this time:
edgar, reading these pages, will likely take time and analyze the contents and in his unique patented way, post his comment — in that typical logical, clear, numbered rendering, the essence and meaning of our words. And probably after that posting we may say, amen, amen, amen.
And if I may be presumptive, the loss may be captured by that much cited [perhaps viewed by some as a cliché of a] song, but remains a meaningful and moving song:
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer’s gone, and all the roses falling
‘Tis you, ’tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer’s in the meadow
Or when the valley’s hushed and white with snow
Yes I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so …
I remember the song because there was a blog where the song was mentioned. Edgar wrote a short note about the lyrics and said he is moved by lines in the lyric. I believe they are the lines embedded in the following:
And when ye come and all the flowers are dying
if I am dead as dead I well may be
you’ll come and find the place where I am lying
and knell and say an Ave there for me
and I shall hear tho soft ye tread above me
and all my grave will warmer sweeter be
and if you bend and tell me that you love me
than I shall sleep in peace until you come to me
Oh boy, now excuse me while I get a hankie.
I was convulsing in spasmodic laughter to a funny video sent by a friend on WhatsApp when I next clicked on to Joeam and see the shattering headline. So cruel the twist of life’s unpredictability that leads us on a roller coaster ride of emotionalism, more depressing when the oscillation is a matter of seconds.
Edgar and I are not far separated in years, I suspect. Yet I have always thought of him as an elderly uncle who pats me kindly on the head as he dishes out wisdom in his characteristic clarity and logic. I have followed many threads of discussion in this blog without participating, picking out many golden nuggets of thoughts, many of which bounced off the brilliant mind of Edgar.
Of all the bright minds here at TSH, I perceive Edgar alone possessed the philosophical cranium. He taught us of Akashic Records, karmic consequentialism, the noble eightfold path of Buddhism and other worldviews.
Fare thee well, my sagely friend. Reading of your passing gave me a kama muta moment.
( In Edgar’s guru-sque fashion, I picked the word ‘kama muta’, but I shall not explain in usurpation of a his tradition. Google it – you will love the meaning).
Can’t find that first exchange but here is one classic.
karl garcia on February 15, 2015 at 6:31 pm
I love it,where have you been?
Reply
edgar lores on February 15, 2015 at 6:42 pm
*******
Thank you.
Trying to attain that… separate peace.
*****
Reply
karl garcia on February 15, 2015 at 7:43 pm
let there be peace on earth and let it begin with asking you not to go on separate peace because no man is an island.
Reply
karl garcia on February 16, 2015 at 5:37 am
Since you mentioned the delai lama, ask for directions to one of MRP’S recommended Nepalese masseuse.
Reply
edgar lores on February 16, 2015 at 6:33 am
*******
Karl,
Ahaha! The Dalai Lama is from Tibet. Tibet is north of Nepal. Not sure if Nepalese masseuses are better than Tibetan ones.
But Tibetan massage (Ku Nye) seems to be very sophisticated. From the Internet: “Tibetan medicine begins with the premise that we are made up of five basic elements: earth, water, fire, wind and space. Tibetan massage is primarily concerned with bringing the wind element into balance.”
Perhaps we should try it out in pursuit of peace. Or, at the very least, to get rid of excess wind. 🙂
*****
Any news on Andrew Lim and Josephivo?
I haven’t heard from either lately.
I hope they are fine.
Some of your thoughts will just stay with us forever.
Thank you for your insight.
May you rest in peace.
ALWAYS looked forward to the takeaways from his conversations in TSH.
Thank you and requiescas in pace, Edgar Lores.
Joe, I realize (for me, anyway) that TSH has come to be a quasi-family and a respected member has passed on and we grieve for him in our own way. I pray that we can also process his passage in that special way he had become to us:
-o Godspeed, edgar;
-o Peace to you always.
You are all my family here because this is more than a blog, this is home.
Take care of yourself, sonny. Listen to that doctor son of yours.
Same with Joseph, sir NHerrera and Joe. Take care and God bless you all.
MG, thank you. Nag-dilang anghel ka. My wife fell gravely ill and were it not for our son, we would have been worse off. By God’s grace (beautiful pun intended) He worked His miracle through his hands. As a newly minted MD, we were his first patients. As you said, take care all.
Nice, uncle.
It’s been a while, Neph. Best regards to you, your folks and family.
Same to you.
This is the week of The Lord’s Prayer and I will pray it as often as I can for the readers of TSH intentions. This promise is in St. Luke’s Gospel, chap 11, 1-13.
… “And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
Sonny
I was told St Luke’s at Malacanang is very good at answering prayers. It turned out true for me. My special prayer was answered. God’s providence is so real.
Chempo, I’m glad God’s Providence did answer your prayer. No matter the source.
sonny, your newly minted MD son is an answered prayer. God is truly good and awesome. His grace is sufficient for you and me.
You’ve said the absolute truth, Mary Grace. The prayers of many friends and relatives accompanied us in our ordeal and God so chose to bless us with His comfort and relief. Thus like the one leper who returned pls join us to thank and praise Him for now and the days ahead. Thanks again, dear friend.
If there was a specific “American” prayer (that covers pretty much everything ) it would be this,
Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr[a] (1892–1971) was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Niebuhr was one of America’s leading public intellectuals for several decades of the 20th century and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. A public theologian, he wrote and spoke frequently about the intersection of religion, politics, and public policy, with his most influential books including ‘Moral Man and Immoral Society’ and ‘The Nature and Destiny of Man’.
I believe edgar was also fond of him.
I know the tradition in the Philippines is to play cards and/or Mahjong; and eat during a wake.
I’ve always found comfort in the Book of Job, technically we’re not speaking, nor sitting, but I feel as though that this is what we are doing in this particular thread, that is edgar’s, sonny…
Also, listen to this: https://themoth.org/stories/carry-him-shoulder-high (gotta love the Irish for their stories— but they say “We’re standing with you.”)
Thank you, Sir Edgar for the gift of knowledge and smart discussions here at TSH. Heaven has gained another angel.
I was so shocked when I opened my email from joeam.com and read the headline. I can’t believe it. Edgar is one of my admired commenter here in TSoH. I like his numbered ways of expressing his views on issues on hand.
I will miss your comments/views that always enlightens me Edgar.
I’m misty-eyed…
Rest in Peace Edgar.
Took me the whole weekend to find words.
Edgar is gone but has left us with Thawt. Enlightenment Filipino style, mind and heart.
Probably the only immortality we have is in how we inspire others around us, in mind and in heart. Through all those he has inspired, Edgar lives on. A mere ripple can become a thunderstorm or even a new ocean current.
Ideas shape possibilities.
Discussing with Edgar opened a world of ideas for me. For that I shall always be grateful.
Permit to repeat that gem:
Probably the only immortality we have is in how we inspire others around us, in mind and in heart. Through all those he has inspired, Edgar lives on. A mere ripple can become a thunderstorm or even a new ocean current.
Edgar. RIP. you were the Intellectual kuya I never had. I miss you so much.
Ah, yes, that’s it, isn’t it? Kind and wise and interested in our well-being.
Yes, Joe…that is so true. I remember when I blurted out my helplessness in my FB wall when family emergencies and the need to meet them financially are at war with my pride and need for self-respect, I wrote, “Father God, hindi ko na kaya ito. I surrender all to your will.” The outpouring of love and comforting words from friends eased the pain and hurt and I thank them all up to this day. The response from Sir Edgar Lores demonstrated that he is indeed “Kind and wise and interested in our well-being.”
He wrote and I responded:
I remember the first response I made to one of your posts at Raissa’s many, many months ago. I mean I remember the event but not what you or I wrote. There was… something in what you said that struck a chord. And each time thereafter in our cyberspace exchanges there was that particular… resonance. Given the distance of time and space and existential beliefs, it was, to me, an inexplicable connection of spirit. Even your aarghs moved me! How explain these spiritual entanglements as mysterious as quantum ones? Perhaps we will know one day. Namaste.
• Mary Grace P. Gonzales Ditto for me, with all your posts, that is. This one moves me beyond words. Thanks so much, sir Edgar
I just had to search this since I had forgotten, I knew I looked it up before, but these pain killers and other maintenance meds are making me forgetful… Namaste translated roughly, it means “I bow to the God within you”, or “The Spirit within me salutes the Spirit in you” – a knowing that we are all made from the same One Divine Consciousness. – Urban Dictionary
Edgar Lores Yes, that’s right. I believe we are all divine, that divinity is within us. We are all children of God. Even Duterte, I am afraid. 🙂
In my interpretation of John 14:6 — “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” — this is symbolic language wherein the child (Christ, the Son) is Father to the man. That is, the man who is realizing or has realized his full potential… within the perimeters of love. Love for all fellowmen (agape in Christianity) or love for all sentient beings (Bodhicitta in Buddhism)
Very well said giancarlo
I’m dropping by to pay my respect to a good man. RIP Edgar Lores.
My dearest friend Edgar has left us so suddenly I can’t almost believe this. And I was expecting him to come visit my place here in Bicol one day. Still do. I’m crying now, losing somebody so near to the heart always leaves me devastatingly lonely. I will be missing you Edgar for how long I don’t know.
http://edgarlores.academia.edu/research#papers
Edgar would have been 74 in September. His collection of writings including the one on Akashi is featured in the link above. In memoriam.
Thanks for that caliphman.
second that
To Edgar wherever you are now
I hope to follow but I failed to say
in my low intellect in this space,
you are above all a Q (kalidad)
in your thoughts and
in your whole life.
I hope and wish to be worthy
of meeting you when
my times comes.
Rest in Peace Edgar.
I will miss the comments nestled in *****
We lost a good one. Rest well and in peace, Edgar.