A homiletics professor and former Lutheran pastor says she is praying for people who are having an especially difficult time during Christmas and the holiday season, expressing solidarity with those who are suffering for various reasons.

Karyn L Wiseman, Ph.D, an Associated Professor of Homiletics at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia said in brief article in the Huffington Post on Tuesday she was reminded about people who suffer during the season because of the allergic reactions she and others likely experienced at her church due to the way its members hung some decorative greens.

"It was beautiful and miserable all at the same time," she said.

"As I sat there feeling sorry for myself and others who were suffering, I was reminded of all of the people for whom the holidays are especially difficult. Some due to illness, some due to the loss of a loved one, and some due to a dislike of the consumerism and greed that seems to have infected the season. There are many reasons why this time of year is hard for folks. Some of those reasons are very personal and private," she wrote.

Wiseman said that for some people, the season is a time of "torment and suffering, depression and anguish."

"For some it is painful, dreadfully lonely, and a reminder of just how blue they feel. For some it is a constant drumming of joyful songs all around them in the midst of feeling very little joy themselves," she wrote.

"So I pray for folks for whom this time of year is tough," she added.

"Just know that we see you. We know you are there and we acknowledge that this time of the year is tough for you. We feel it too at times. Know that you are loved," she wrote."

"Whether your Christmas is decidedly red and green or some shade of the blues, you are special and God's beloveds."