Labor for love.

EMILY DICKINSON DESCRIBED HOPE as feathered and perching in the soul. According to the poet, hope is wordless and constant tune--its belief in the possible--warms us when we are chilled and carries us through life's storms.

Hope sings openly at weddings as couples pledge their lives to each other. Though some guests might be thinking of the chilly and stormy weather ahead, hope's chirping dispels such cloudy thoughts.

Special bridal clothes are hope's plumage. Frequently extravagant, always special, and sometimes amazingly labor-intensive, these garments invite us to believe in the couple's, and our, future.

This wedding skirt comes from a Vietnamese hill tribe. Patterned during the weaving process with nearly two pounds of tiny white beads, such a remarkable cloth could be thought a waste of time, resources, and skill.

Or an affirmation of life's goodness, love's endurance, hope's truthfulness. In the words of the angel Raphael at Sarah and Tobias' wedding in the Book of Tobit: "... the works of God are to be declared and made known" (12:7).

JERRY BLEEM, O.F.M., a priest and artist who teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Image: Beaded wedding skirt from Kotu or Taoi people, highlands of central Vietnam, 33 by 28 inches.