YOU CAN CLIMB, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE 

By John Santosuosso 

Well, it is almost January 5th again, and one of my favorite saints has still failed to achieve the coveted status of having his feast day included on the Episcopal Calendar. Perhaps you have not heard of him. His name is Simeon Stylites. 

Simeon's origins are quite humble. He was born around the year 390 into a shepherd family. As a child he toiled as a shepherd, but at an early age he began to have visions. He soon entered a monastery, and then shortly another, but poor Simeon was so devout and so strict in his devotions that the monks weary of his ways kicked him out! However, they had not reckoned with the determination of young Simeon. He soon moved to the top of a mountain where he could pray and fast without interruption, or so he thought. Even in an age without Internet and cell phones, word quickly spread about the devout holy man living on the mountain. Crowds began to gather at the foot of his refuge seeking prayer and advice. 

Poor Simeon, although kind and helpful, longed for a life of solitude. In a desperate attempt to find it, he moved to the top of a ten-foot-high pillar, with a platform six-feet in diameter. However, the crowds simply followed. By the time of his death in 459 Simeon had resorted to a sixty-foot-high pillar, but still the devoted came. Actually, they tried to help the reluctant saint by climbing a ladder with a basket of food or tying a rope to the basket so that it could be raised to the pillar platform. Since pillar monks were rather reluctant to bathe, some were probably thankful Simeon stayed at the summit of his perch. 

Still the monk's fame continued to spread. He preached daily and converted many. Emperors Theodosius II and Leo, I sought his consul. Other monks sought to imitate his devotion and built pillars of their own, sometimes adding a small hut or a chapel at the top. Even today there is a monk in Georgia (not the state, you Braves fans; the country) who continues the tradition. 

Eventually a church was built at the site of the base of Simeon's pillar, a few miles northwest of the city of Aleppo in Syria. Most of the pillar had been destroyed by souvenir hunters, but as recently as 2016 the base was still standing in the church courtyard. Unfortunately, in that year a Russian aerial attack during Syria's civil war reduced it to a small pile of rubble. 



So, what is Simeon's legacy? Perhaps it is the awareness that some may be chosen for a true life of contemplation, but for the vast majority of us, the Christian life is one lived in community. We are here to minister to each other, and, if we take the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 25 seriously, also to those outside our immediate community. Yes, sometimes we may forget. I once saw two grown men argue for an hour over who would get to wear the Santa Claus suit at a church Christmas party. We might need to remind ourselves on occasion that silence is golden, but often we do come together, we do hold each other up, and we share both joy and sorrow. I think Simeon would approve.