That's out of place, and it bugs me

What bugs you when it's out of place? A stack of books that are not aligned? Children who misbehave in the store? That dangle of hair that won't stay where you put it? Someone's sweater buttoned one off? A car that is intentionally parked to take up two spots? I'll wager that most people have at least one kind of thing that when out of place just bugs them without relief. And we are compelled to set it right - straighten the stack of books, shush the kids, clip the hair, mention the sweater button thing, or curse the selfish driver.

You could be bugged by one kind of thing out of place, but not another. For example, you can't stand the toothpaste squeezed from the middle but you find mismatched socks creative. And the thing that bugs you doesn't bug the person next to you, and that bugs you! They should be bugged by that - why aren't they?!? That bugs me.

One of the things that bugs me is when something is not logical. I'm not the all-great determiner of what's logical, and I don't always do what's logical. I am no expert, but I've learned a few things. But even before education, I was bugged when I noticed logic being violated. Not just my logic, but the rules of logic.

When someone makes a logically inconsistent statement, I notice. I can't not notice. And I'm compelled to set it right. Social media is perhaps the most frustrating, because that's where I come across the worst offenses of logic, and I have this burning need to set the logic straight. It doesn't matter if I agree or disagree with the point being made - if it violates logic, I wanna say something. I must say something. And sometimes do. And often shouldn't.

The problem with this, no matter what it is that bugs us when it's out of place, is that we can be so fixated on "setting it right" that other things might suffer. We're so bugged that we don't care who we bug until we get ourselves unbugged. For example, my quest to get the logic straight in a discussion has successfully alienated way too many people, interfered with family dynamics, and even kept me up way too late at night.

But there are a bunch of other things that are out of place that should bug me much more:

• Children without a loving home or a chance for a good education
• Human trafficking
• Systems that inhibit someone from finding work
• Discrimination, judgmentalism, and stereotyping
• Failure to stand up for one's neighbor
• Misrepresenting God and His ways

The list could go on. All of these things are out of place, but at a gut level, they usually don't bug me more than when logic is out of place. (My only hope is to realize that this is not logical.)

Are you willing to be bugged about such things at a deeper level than the pet peeve "out of place" things do? Willingness is where it begins. Then maybe we'll be compelled to set it right.