There’s a story about a group of tourists who were visiting the Vatican in Rome. Their tour guide had told them all about the famed Sistine Chapel: the place where the College of Cardinals meets when they’re choosing a new pope. It’s the historic chamber, the painted ceiling is one of Michelangelo’s masterpieces — the entire Christian story in pictures, from Adam and Eve through Jesus enthroned in the heavens.

One aspect of the Sistine Chapel comes as a shock to most first–time visitors: its size. It’s a surprisingly small room. This particular group of tourists included a young man who was so eager to see Michelangelo’s painted ceiling, he dashed in one end of the Chapel and out the other before he even realized he’d been there. He mistook the Chapel for a sort of antechamber. Somebody had to go after him and call him back, saying, “Hey, you missed it. Come back into the chapel — and this time, remember to look up!”