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I have not felt hungry for “the most important meal of the day” lately. A banana has been doing the trick followed by a daytime snack and dinner at home.

I just returned from a jot in the elevator for my early afternoon snack and was enlightened by doing so. Now, there are quite a few things you can learn from 5-10-second elevator rides:

• 

  Look up/straight ahead instead of down in an elevator. You might learn something.

  How to tolerate awkward silence

• Whether the floor indicator is red or green (the Diocesan Pastoral Center uses green)
• What kind of “mood” music a company or building has piped in
• Perhaps what other companies occupy which floor
• (for glass elevators) Distance to your destination or direction of the food court
• Size/weight limit of the elevator and how to get a copy of the inspection certificate.
• How to have micro conversations about random stuff you observe. Or, if it’s an employee elevator, a micro conversation about your day (if going up or down) or plans for the evening/weekend (if going down)

I recognized her name from Phoenix’s Sisters of St. Benedict website. So I used my last few seconds of the elevator ride to find the connection between the two saints. “sister of St. Benedict,” I read.

The light bulb went on in my head. That’s why the Sisters of St. Benedict named their gorgeous but humble facilities for private/group retreats “Scholastica House.” Somehow I had missed or forgotten that bit of trivia during the two or three planning retreats I spent there prior to a larger Catholic singles retreat.

What’s more (what I researched when I got back to my desk):

• St. Benedict and St. Scholastica were twins. Their mother died in childbirth. I love it when there’s a family of saints.
• Once St. Benedict was at his monastery, they met yearly. Once, she convinced him to stay awake the whole night where they remained “engrossed in their conversation about the spiritual life.”
• St. Benedict prepared his sister’s tomb, which she entered three days after their “overnight retreat.”

If interested in visiting the Sisters of St. Benedict, its oblate program for the laity, its retreat facility or thrift store, contact them or call (623) 848-9308.