FLIRTING WITH DIVINITY

By Ellen Fagg Weist


Photography: Austen Diamond, VisitUtah.com

I’m sitting at a coffee shop flirting with Jesus, blessed by the kind of evening light that feels like a miracle. This Jesus, whose real name is Matt, grew up in a town called Paradise before he left it — and religion — behind. His beard and soulful eyes caught the attention of an artist at this coffee shop a couple of weeks earlier, and now I’m in interview mode: What’s it like posing as a God you don't believe in? What I don’t ask: What does it mean to believe? That question is always on my mind here, a backdrop as constant as the mountains in this state of believers. As golden light crowns the two of us, Jesus smiles and orders a latte.


Ellen Fagg Weist, editor of Utah@125, is the public information officer for the Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement. She earned an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing from the University of Iowa and edited the story collection “The Way We Live: Stories by Utah Women.” Her essay “Eight Views of the Lake” won the 2018 Alfred Lambourne Prize from Friends of Great Salt Lake.