Ever want to get away from it all? For those who may not know, that’s pretty much what I did more than 2 years ago. Best decision I’ve made in decades. Following the prompting of poet Philip Larkin, I “walked out on the whole crowd” for many of the same reason most people do. A few years ago, another man, a man named Simeon, wanted to follow suit. You see, Simeon was tired of the rat race. He detested crowds and the hustle and bustle of daily life. So, he decided to get away, also.

He was born on what is now the border area between Turkey and Syria, born to a simple but relatively well off shepherding family. At the age of 13, Simeon became obsessed with Christianity. Now, that particular religion was not the one most people followed in that area, and it was relatively easy for Simeon to rise in the ranks of the church. His dedication and asceticism were so extreme that even his fellow monks at the monastery he was studying in asked him to leave. When monks think you’re too radical for them, well, you’re pretty radical. Any way, Simeon sought to clear his mind. So, he found a place in a small cliff facing where he could live out of the elements. It was barely large enough for him to turn around in.

Simeon stayed there in the defile throughout the Lenten season one year, and, when he emerged, people began to believe that he had been sustained during that time somehow supernaturally. He became a local religious celebrity. And that formed much of the problem for Simeon. He didn’t like the crowds who began to follow his every move, reaching out to him to teach them how to live a pious, godly life. And the more people sought him out, the more Simeon wished to retreat in order to continue his religious mediation and prayers. But the more time he spent in dedication to God, the more people sought him out.

Where could he go to escape the growing, burgeoning throngs that were clamoring for words of wisdom from the holy man? It seemed that no matter where Simeon went and hid, people would find him. Finally, Simeon found a solution. There was one place where people couldn’t reach him, one place where the crowds couldn’t bother him with their inanities and their silly questions and their please for his pearls of wisdom.

The place he found was among the ruins of an ancient city in what is now Syria, near the present day town of Taladah. It was in these ruins that Simeon found his happy place, that space that would allow him to be alone with his God and with his thoughts. And it was there he stayed for thirty years. The space he occupied for all that time was not much more than 1 square yard (1 square meter) in area. Boys from the area were dispatched to bring him food and goat’s milk to the isolated retreat so that he didn’t have to venture out to get the basics for himself. Now, to be fair, people still came to see Simeon, but he was able to keep himself separate, above, and beyond their direct reach. They could see him, but interacting with the holy man was not possible for the crowds.

You see, the place Simeon had found to escape to, the safe space he found, was atop the ruins of a temple, on top of one of the ancient pillars left from the old civilzation.

Fifty feet in the air.