I happened to come across the listing for a Buck Knives 108 Compadre Froe on Amazon.com a day or two ago. (A "froe", for those who don't know the term, is "a tool for cleaving wood by splitting it along the grain".)
In the item description, this sentence appears:
"Perfect for clearing, heavy chopping, splitting and atoning." Obviously, the last word is meant to be "batoning", but someone left off the "b".
At first I laughed at the mis-spelling. After all, as a retired pastor, I could appreciate the irony. However, I was brought up short by a thought. If we saw someone threatening to cleave us with a tool like that, might it not be a very positive incentive to atoning for our sins?
Hey, maybe that's not a misprint after all! Perhaps we should add one or two of those to the thurible, aspergillum and aspersorium traditionally used in repentance services.
Peter
I would definitely be more entertained by church services with this addition!
ReplyDeleteI suppose the guillotine could be considered the industrial version for atonement.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about atonement, but the guillotine is hell on recidivism.
ReplyDeleteJohn in Indy
Without a lever-style handle at a 90° angle to the blade, it's not much of a froe. Thick blades machete, maybe, but NOT a froe.
ReplyDelete