This album is a journey from Darkness to Light. For those experiencing pain or grief from loss--this will help you through the passage. Darkness is dedicated to three friends who passed early--Cynthia Tilles, Marissa Najarian, and Aaron Whatly. It includes the piano piece Bittersweet Memories, composed following Cynthia's funeral. Descending to Pain may sound ominous, but it doesn't last forever, for then Healing Begins. Our first emotional high arrives with A Moment of Peace, a soothing synth solo that evokes the image of amber grain bending in a gold-tinged breeze. With any loss, the journey from the depths to the heights is not a swift rise straight to the top, but a gradual climb--with many pauses for re-evaluation, backward glances at where we started--it is a Path of Hope. Walking the Path has repetitive notes which show one's progression down the trail, which ends By the Pool. So often we struggle through life's chaos Seeking Peace, seeking a quiet secret place, but when we forget to ask the One Who grants the peace, our seeking tends to be fraught with stress. True Rejuvenation happens when we cry out to the One Who gives life, and then we begin Finding Hope. Ascension is not just a song about rising up to the heights, but it is in many ways a "song of ascents"--musically and thematically. Imagine getting to the top of a high mountain after slogging for what seemed forever, through the depths. Upon reaching the summit you Raise Your Hands in Praise. This journey has been long and it has not been easy, but you are so filled with new life, hope, and praise that you begin to Dance Before His Throne. We are now bathed in Light.