I was blessed to visit St. Andrew Orthodox Church in Riverside CA a few weeks ago. I recommend visiting if you are ever near by. One of the outer doors features this carving of St. Symeon the Stylite.

He lived most of his life on the top of a pillar in Syria, seeking a life of fasting, prayer and seclusion. As is the case with many Orthodox saints, despite his best efforts, his desire for seclusion was for naught as word of his holiness grew throughout the empire and his pillar became a place of pilgrimage during his lifetime. Paupers and emperors, great saints and great sinners all sought both his prayers and wise counsel. The idea of a political leader seeking the advice of an ascetic who had been standing on a pillar in the middle of the desert for decades in prayer seems so absurd to the modern mind, and yet that is exactly what happened in the fifth century.