It's not exactly lectio divina, but Montefiore's Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar has its moments. Reading the life of a saint can tempt one to despair, but reading of Stalin gives one an obverse-image of God: simply reverse the images in your mind you see what God is like, for whatever Stalin was, God is the opposite. By seeing the inexpressible weakness of man, you more easily see the grandeur of God.
Without belief in the Divine, man is ever ready to substitute an idol. Stalin took on a god-like role for the people of the Soviet Union. Consider:
Jesus was mentioned in half the Tribune editorials between 1933 and 1939...Articles appeared: "How I got acquainted with Jesus Christ." The planes that flew over the Chicago river formed the word "Jesus" in the skies. The Tribune declared: "Jesus's life is our life, our beautiful present and future."... A writer described the reaction as "love, devotion, selflessness." A female worker whispered: "How simple he is, how modest!"That is taken verbatim from the book except that I substituted "Jesus" for "Stalin", "Tribune" for "Pravda" and "Chicago river" for "Red Square". Stalin said that the people need a Tsar "whom they can worship and for whom they can live and work."
So often with the saints, such as St. Faustina, the Blessed Virgin Mary is credited as their teacher. Stalin had a teacher too: "But he regarded Ivan the Terrible as his true alter ego, his 'teacher,' something he revealed constantly to comrades such as Molotov, Zhdanov and Mikoyan."
In this age where niceness is taken for holiness, it's also telling how Yezhov, one of Stalin's bloodiest henchmen, was liked by everyone. He was seen as "responsive, humane, gentle, tactful man" who tried to help with any "unpleasant personal matter." He turned out to be one of the least humane in the group, which is really saying something -- the folly again of men making judgments when God alone can be trusted in that capacity.
The inhumanity and irreligiosity is chilling. Stalin was the judge, wielding an anti-Christ version of justice, who determined sentences of innocence and guilt. His "show trials" were farcical. One who was put to death, a Jew, pleaded desperately for his life to no effect. Soon afterwards a play was put on for Stalin with a man named Pauker playing the part of the murdered Jew, depicting him as raising his hands to the Heavens and weeping for his life saying, "Hear oh Israel the Lord is our God, the Lord is one." And Stalin "laughed so much that Pauker repeated it. Stalin was almost sick with merriment and waved at Pauker to stop." Again and again throughout history the crucifixion of Christ is replayed.
How easy to trust God with matters of judgment and mercy given what men are capable of!
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