Story of the two monks
A popular parable in Koso Mura tells the story of 2 monks, 1 Fortunist, who revered Inari and 1 Taoist, who belonged to the Order of the Seven Thunders.
The 2 monks were traveling near a village when they found a wounded fox. The Fortunist monk insisted they care for it because foxes were the servants of Inari. While they rested in a small monastery, a violent storm struck, threatening the crop. The monk of Inari prayed to her day and night, while the Taoist monk went out into the fields to help the farmers save their crops.
In the end, the crops were saved and the monks nursed the fox back to health, whereupon it ran off as soon as it could walk again. The monk of Inari declared that he would follow it, becaue it would show him where Inari wished him to be next, while the Taoist monk stayed in the village to help the villagers.
The first monk and the fox were never seen again while the second monk spent the remainder of his life in that village, teaching and helping the people.
The moral of the story is that it's important to pay attention to there here and now and not obsess over abstract concerns.